A Castle's Hospitality
by Tenri Kage
Summary: Yoh, Horohoro, Ren, and Lyserg are wandering vampire hunters. Anna, Tamao, Pirika, and Jeanne are a vampire coven in an ancient castle. A freak storm brings the two parties together. YohxAnna, HoroxTamao, RenxPirika, LysergxJeanne
1. Enter The Lair

Anna, Tamao, Pirika, and Jeanne are all vampires and live together in an abandoned castle that used to belong to Anna's parents. Yoh, Horohoro, Ren, and Lyserg are vampire hunters. A freak storm and an ancient spell, courtesy of Anna, brings the boys to their castle. Will they be fed upon by the vampires? Or will something else occur?

Cobalt Rose

I don't own Shaman King...which sucks...darn it...

A Castle's Hospitality

Enter The Lair

* * *

Kyouyama Anna, Lady Vampire of her Coven, sat on the sill of a wide-open window brushing out shoulder length blonde hair. Her perch, high up in the largest turreted tower of the castle, gave her an excellent view of the forest below. Sapphire beads chimed and clinked musically as dark clouds gathered overhead. As rain began to patter, slowly at first but rapidly becoming a deluge of warm water from the sky, Anna turned away from the forest below her and jumped down to the floor. With a wave of her hand the candles surrounding the room burst into flame and lit the chamber. She turned back to the window and gazed out. "Such a night to be out," she whispered to herself quietly.

A timid knock on her door made her glance up.

"Lady Anna?" The voice was Tamao's.

_Timid, shy, still unused to being a vampire, needs to feed…like the rest of us,_ Anna thought to herself as the door opened on its own accord. Tamao was not alone. "Why has the whole coven chosen to come tonight?" Anna asked, her words more statement then question.

Besides Tamao, Pirika and Jeanne were also there. They were technically her ladies-in-waiting, but they acted more as though the four of them were a very twisted version of family and friends, though the other three were always loyal to Anna. The three girls stepped into the warm chamber and Pirika spoke.

"The spirits have said that there's a small group of men near our castle in the forest. We were wondering if you'd like to call them here," she said with a small, very mischievous smile.

A small, answering smile graced Anna's lips for a moment before disappearing. "With pleasure." The other three vampires drifted out of her room as Anna began to make complex gestures with her hands. Behind her, thunder roared and lightning flashed ominously. A burst of power sprang from her hands to bathe the whole castle in an eerie, blue light. "Enjoy the castle's…hospitality," Anna whispered with a private smirk.

* * *

"Asakura Yoh, we had BETTER not be lost!" Tao Ren growled irately at the easily smiling, though soaking wet, person on the horse beside him.

Yoh pushed a hand through his wet hair with a lazy grin. "We're not exactly lost…I just don't know exactly where we are."

"WE'RE LOST!" Horohoro, a blue-haired boy behind them cried out, making very little difference in the uproar made by the rain.

The only quiet person of the quartet was the green-haired one consulting a drenched map. The other three were engaging in a shouting match on whether or not they were lost. The hunched up figure murmured to himself as a gloved finger traced paths on runny ink roads while making mental notes about how long ago their last road mark had been. It seemed that after a while the figure made up his mind about something. "If this map is anything to go by, there should be an abandoned castle at the top of a nearby hill," he said, pitching his voice so that the other three would hear him over the din of the falling rain.

"Finally!" Horohoro wheeled around on his horse and brought his riding crop smartly down on the rump of the green-haired boy's mount. "Lyserg found us some shelter so let's get moving you two!" The smacked the backsides of both Yoh's and Ren's horses as his own mare trotted between the two, and the four of them rode around the bend, only to be confronted by the sight of a large and ominous looking castle. The horses slowed, snorting their uneasiness.

Yoh dismounted and pulled on the bridle of his chestnut bay mare, leading her to the sheltered stables of the castle. The others followed, the spell activated by the Lady Vampire making them feel no fear concerning the darkness that shrouded the ancient castle. "Why don't we see if there's a kitchen in this big place?" Yoh suggested after they had stabled their horses and dried themselves off moderately. "It's a castle after all. If we can get a fire going we could have a nice hot meal for once."

"Anything's better than travel bread, cheese, and water that's for sure," Horohoro agreed.

The other two just nodded and the four guys set off in search of a kitchen. Their wanderings led them to a well furnished dining hall. Much to their surprise, this part of the castle was not in disrepair like the rest of it. The end of the long table held four place settings. The four place settings were identical and made of the purest silver. Each had several silver utensils sitting on both sides of the burnished silver plates, but the place at the head of the table had a chalice with a golden rim compared to the others which had rims of bronze to offset their silver goblets. The four guys glanced at one another, uncertain.

"It seems we will disrupt the masters of this house by dining here," Lyserg remarked quietly.

Before any of the others had a chance to reply, a door opened at the far end of the chamber and a pale girl with flowing, long silvery hair entered with a large silver platter laden with a steaming pork roast in her hands. "Oh! I must tell the Lady that we have visitors!" the girl remarked in a startled voice. Lyserg glanced at the other three. He could tell they were thinking the same thing. _The Lady?_ All of them could hear the capitalization.

"We beg your pardon miss, we're just travelers who were seeking shelter from the rain. Please, tell the Lady that we'll be gone as soon as the rain lets up," Lyserg said politely. The others were silent, knowing he was the most tactful of the group.

The silver-haired maiden just nodded and, setting the pork roast on the table, exited the way she came. _That's odd,_ Lyserg couldn't help thinking. He could feel an odd tremor in the air as she passed. He would have thought she was a vampire if the tremor hadn't been so weak. Or if she hadn't been carrying a large silver platter with bare hands, his mind also remarked. Putting it down as vampire descent from a long way back he looked over at the other three, but none of them seemed to have noticed anything odd.

* * *

Anna let the hot water soothe her as she lay in the hot spring pool in her bathroom. Amid the steam, she waved a hand lazily and an image appeared before her. _This was interesting…_ It appeared as though the four travelers were quite uncertain of what to do. Evidently, they were all rather wet and hungry. Perhaps she ought to send Tamao down with towels, clothes, and a laundry basket? Anna considered this a while but she knew that Tamao wouldn't know what to do in such a situation. _Better to send Pirika,_ she thought to herself. The four were all quite handsome in their own ways. The boy with the messy blue hair reminded her of Pirika a little, though he seemed to have twice her bounce. The quiet, green-haired one was polite but obviously uncomfortable in his surroundings. The one with the dark, black hair was more at ease, but in a brooding sort of way. The brunette on the other hand had a carefree smile on his face that caught her attention. For a moment she was drawn to him, unable to keep herself from looking as his soaked clothing showed his toned, athletic body.

She waved a hand to dispel the steam and rose from the hot water, wrapping a thick, white bathrobe around her. Unlike most vampires, Anna had no aversion to other colors of clothing. Though she preferred black to all other colors and would wear black tonight for her…guests, she had never really liked the idea of wrapping her pale, clean body in a black bathrobe to dry herself off. She exited her bathroom and glided silently through her chambers and down the hall until she reached Pirika's rooms. Knocking gently, she ordered Pirika off with towels and dark clothes for the youths waiting downstairs. Anna turned away back to her own rooms, though not without seeing the devilish grin that crossed Pirika's face.

She closed the door to her rooms behind her and shed the bathrobe. Striding over to her wardrobe, she chose an off-the-shoulder black dress that hinted of black-lace petticoats. Adorning herself with her sapphire blue beads, she glanced at the many pairs of shoes she had to choose from. In the end she decided for a pair of platform sandals that were entirely straps except for their small silver buckles that rested cool against her ankles. The dress, which split at the front only a little below her knees but trailed on the floor and billowed out like a cocktail dress, showed enough of her milky white legs for anyone who wished to see to be able to admire the straps that held the sandals to her feet.

Anna admired the revealing dress in the full size mirror beside the wardrobe. Now, she wondered, which one of the four to seduce. She knew, as a psychic vampire, that the only damage she would inflict upon her victim would be fatigue and sleepiness, perhaps a migraine, and, if she drained too far, unhappy feelings. She frowned momentarily. Unfortunately, she was also an empath, which meant that she could never drain a person too far, and she could hear the thoughts of those around her. Only trained people, like her vampire coven, could block her from reading their thoughts. Perhaps she would go for the brunette. He was very handsome, but there seemed something keen and, almost accepting, in his dark eyes.

_What am I thinking!_ She asked herself. Try as she might, she could not muster enough disgust for herself as she had hoped. _You're a vampire. No one's accepted you ever except for the coven and your parents, and they were killed by the villagers at least a century ago._ It was an old argument. _They didn't feed off of anyone,_ she thought sadly. She knew, deep down, that the coven held her own dream. Getting a mate. Having a mate would stop the Hunger that urged all of them on. It would stop the other three, more traditional blood vampires, from needing the blood over any others than their mate's, and it would stop her from hearing the voices of peoples' thoughts all the time.

_A mate…_ Anna tried to stop herself from thinking of when the dream had begun, but it was so clear. She had just been recently orphaned, and, seeking the comfort her parents used to give her, found herself in the library. From the musty tomes she sought her favorite, a book about vampire lore. At a young age she had enjoyed reading the vampire history and the battles between the vampire lords and the renegade werewolves who were against the peace made between vampires and werewolves. But what she read that night was of mating lore.

Once a vampire found a mate, he or she would no longer need to feed upon other human beings. This mate could be a human-turned-vampire, a vampire, or a human with exceptional powers. Blood vampires and Psychic vampires would gain more control over their powers and the Hunger which caused them to feed would abate. Instead, the shared bond between the vampires would cause them to be able to survive without partaking in blood or energy of humans except for the once-a-year ritualistic feed performed on All Hallows' Eve. If the mate chosen by a vampire was human, he or she could change the human to a vampire, and usually did so that the two could live their lives together for eternity.

Anna sighed. It was no use getting nostalgic like that. She knew that no matter how much she denied it, she had taken a fancy to the laidback brunette. Her eyes glinted in the candlelight as she made for the door. She supposed she could coax the kitchen servants into exerting themselves tonight.

* * *

Pirika flipped long blue hair over her shoulder. Jeanne had given her a pile of evergreen towels and some nice, dark clothing. After a moment's hesitation, she decided on entering the dining hall via the same door as Jeanne. A look from her was all it took for the door to open on its own accord and she stepped out into the chamber. "The Lady has sent towels and dry clothes. She wishes that you feel more comfortable than in soaking wet garments. She has arranged for you to dine with us tonight. Please follow me and I will accompany you to your rooms," Pirika said with an innocent smile.

The four travelers glanced at one another and followed. Pirika could hear the wet slaps of leather boots, or sandals in the case of the brunette, as they walked behind her. She led them up a set of stairs to the second level, walked down another hallway, led them up a spiral staircase, through a set of portrait halls, all of lordly figures, some of whom greatly resembled the two girls the four had already seen, and up a narrower set of stairs to a set of rooms. "Someone will come and bring you to the dining hall when dinner is ready." With that, Pirika disappeared swiftly into the shadows, a passing rustle of air all that marked her way.

Ren looked after her, straining to see her sky-blue hair in the gloom. For a moment he imagined he could still faintly see her ivory skin and blue hair stark against the black of her dress. Looking down at the clothes piled on top of the towel. Most of it was black. So far the only people they had seen were female, pale, and had a penchant for black clothing. Vampires? And yet, no one else had seemed to notice the suspicious things. Was he just being paranoid after five years of vampire hunting with the others? At 18, he still couldn't quite believe that he had been able to stand the company of Yoh and Horohoro for five years. Both 18-year-olds could be excruciatingly annoying when they wanted to be, and Lyserg, still 17, was too timid.

Shrugging off the thoughts he entered his own room. It was well furnished, in a rather dark, rich sort of way. Constant wandering for five years made him somewhat unused to such extravagance. Stripping himself of his wet clothes, he toweled himself dry and put on the black pants. They felt as though they were specially tailored for him. Pulled the shirt, long-sleeved, white, and fancy, on and began buttoning up the shirt when someone knocked on the door. Thinking it Yoh or one of the others, he carelessly opened the door, only to find Pirika on the other side.

"Oh!" was all she said for a moment, and he felt almost as if she were trying to devour him with her eyes. He fiercely fought down a blush and hurriedly finished buttoning up the shirt. The blue-haired girl seemed to recover and remarked, "I'll take your wet things sir. The Lady's people will wash and dry them for you so that you may take them with you tomorrow."

Ren nodded to her and placed his sopping wet clothing in the laundry basket the girl held out to him. She disappeared down the hall to collect the clothes of his friends, and he returned to his room to put on a black, silk vest, finely embroidered with a dragon created of shimmering black thread. He found leather sandals near the bed, and forewent the dark dinner jacket. After a slight hesitation, he also donned the black tie that came with the rest of his clothing.

He paced his room in a bored manner until he decided to hunt up the others. The first door he knocked on was Lyserg's, who was fully dressed, dinner jacket and all. Yoh's room was the one across from that, and Yoh himself was wearing only the black pants, white button up shirt, and the tie loosely knotted and hanging round his neck. They set up camp in Horohoro's room. Horohoro himself used them to decide against wearing the dinner jacket. He left the front of his vest open, but wore no tie. In the back of his mind Ren entertained the idea of telling the others of his suspicions. Still, he didn't wish to be labeled paranoid, and he had not felt any such nightly aura within the castle. He opted instead for wondering about dinner with the others.

* * *

The coven ladies were dressed in some of their finest and were gathered in Anna's rooms. Anna herself was sitting on a Romanesque banqueting couch, resting her chin on the palm of her hand as she leaned against the window ledge. Rain continued to sheet down before her, even though not a drop touched her.

"How long has she been like that?" Jeanne asked curiously.

"Since after she asked me to bring the guys to their rooms, I think," said Pirika.

"No, since she got back from the kitchens," Tamao answered.

The three exchanged glances behind the blonde's back. This was most unlike Lady Anna to be staring out into the rain because of visitors.

"Tamao?" The girl in question almost squeaked in surprise. The three had thought Anna too preoccupied to say much at the moment. "Go fetch the travelers from their rooms. Jeanne, Pirika, you and I shall go down to the dining room. I'm sure they won't be long in coming." Anna left one lingering glance out into the rain, which looked suspiciously like the image of a certain brunette traveler for a moment, and swept out of her rooms without another word, faithfully followed by the other two.

Pirika's long, black dress clung to her body in exactly the right way. Though several decades old, her body appeared to be that of a 17-year-old girl. The collar was high and the sleeves short, but the dress flowed down straight from her waist with slits up to mid-thigh on either side. Black, high heels added to her height. Jeanne's dress resembled a ballgown, but in black lace and silk. Her puffed sleeves were elegant, and where the puffs ended, the material clung to her like a second skin until it billowed out again at her elbows. Her black, dancing shoes made almost no noise on the stones of the hallway.

When they reached the dining room, Pirika found took her seat to Anna's left. Jeanne sat on Pirika's left. The seat to Anna's right would remain empty until Tamao returned with the youths. Anna paused by her seat a moment, surveying the food on the table. Apart from the pork roast that Jeanne had carried into the room, there was a tray laden with wedges of cheese; platters piled with slices of rye bread, white bread, cornbread, scones, rolls, and brown bread; dishes of chicken breasts, grilled beef, fried fish, pork ribs, and goose marinated in white wine; tossed vegetable salad and Caesar salad; and wine as well as juice, water, iced sherbets, and non-alcoholic cocktails. There was something missing.

Anna managed to order several kinds of dessert from the kitchens before she sensed unfamiliar aura gathering near. She seated herself regally, though in shadow, on her chair and waited.

* * *

Tamao fingered the edge of her skirt nervously. Being only in her fourth decade, she had yet to gain the calm or self-assuredness of any of the others. Jeanne, who looked like her age, was actually nearly a century old. Finding the hallway, she knocked on first one door, then the next, only to find that none of the doors opened. Bewildered, she knocked on the final door. A shuffling from inside indicated that someone was coming, and then the door was forcefully wrenched open by a blue-haired boy who looked to be about 18.

"The Lady wishes you to come down to the dining hall. Dinner has been served," she said with feigned calm. She desperately tried to remind herself that she was nearly forty.

"Food!" The one who had opened the door called to the others behind him and the four followed her as they made a slow procession to the dining hall. At one point, the brunette complained of how the food would be cold by the time they arrived. He was playfully cuffed by the blue-haired one, and the placement changed so that Tamao found herself matching step with the cheerful, blue-haired boy. She had to find a way to stop herself from blushing.

"These pictures are very nice," the boy remarked. "Those two," he pointed to a man with brown hair and Tamao's eyes and a woman with long, wavy hair of the same color as Tamao's, "look very much like you."

Tamao just nodded. She loved the pictures Anna put in this particular gallery, and not only because it featured the families that all the girls had lost. Glancing sidelong at the boy beside her she volunteered information. "This," she said, motioning to an oil painting of a dignified man of sandy brown hair and crimson-y brown eyes and a sweet-faced woman with long blonde hair and eyes that went from a dark amethyst to crimson, "is a painting of the previous owners of the castle. The castle was given to the Lady when they passed away."

She was surprised at the uncharacteristically grave nod from the blue-haired boy. "The man looks as though he would keep the castle organized, but the woman has laughter in her eyes," was all he said.

She glanced back at the portrait of Anna's parents. She hadn't known them very well, they had been killed right at the start of her second decade, a few years before her own parents, but for someone who had never seen them before, the boy was very insightful. Lord Kyouyama was indeed a dignified man who kindly treated his servants and kept the castle well organized. Lady Kyouyama had been the laughter and smiles of the mansion, keeping everyone in good humor. Since their deaths, Tamao had yet to see Lady Anna laugh genuinely without pain or bitterness.

A heavenly aroma drifted past her and it broke through the blue-haired one's brooding. "Food!" he cried for the second time since she had met him. Their pace quickened and soon they were in front of a large door. Tamao tapped the hard wood gently and the door swung out from before her. Presenting the four travelers, who had flanked her, two to each side, she waved her hands in a half-confident flourish. "Lady, the travelers have arrived."

From the depths of the head chair, shrouded in darkness, came a musical, soft voice that everyone heard nonetheless. "Pleased to be acquainted. Dinner has been served."

* * *

Please review! Will update chapter 2 ASAP!

Cobalt Rose


	2. Dinner Is Served

So sorry this took such a long time! I've been writing so many little YohxAnna drabbles and those darn plot ideas are colliding with me head-on all the time! I can't seem to get them to stop! Darn things...at this rate I'll never finish a single chaptered story! Please check out my profile about my story **Both Sides** and tell me if you like it?

Plus, two extra story ideas that aren't exactly pending...but I might consider if people like them.

**Sisters:** Mari and Anna are sisters, orphaned by a renegade group of bandits who attacked their parents' coach while they were on holiday. Sent to a middle-class orphanage, they are adopted by the Asakura family as companions for the brothers, Hao and Yoh Asakura. Their job? To act as escorts to the two noble-born guys. And no, they can't fall for them.

**Holidays:** A series of scenes between couples PirikaxRen, TamaoxHorohoro, and favorite love triangle YohxAnnaxHao during the holidays of the year starting with Valentine's Day and ending with New Years!

But of course, that's not what I'm here to be telling you about! On with the story!

Cobalt Rose

And of course, I don't own. Standard disclaimers apply (unfortunate but true...)

A Castle's Hospitality

Dinner is Served

* * *

Yoh glanced at the others. Horohoro seemed slightly preoccupied with the girl who had led them there, Ren was brooding, but wasn't he always…and Lyserg was quiet. Seeing that no one else seemed to be willing to make a move, he pulled up a chair on the far end of the table and sat. The others quickly found their seats, as did the strawberry haired girl who had led them there. 

"There's really no need to sit so far away," remarked a musical voice from the other end of the table. They didn't see exactly what happened, but they certainly felt it. In a second the table was a great deal shorter than it had been, and Yoh found himself trying to see the girl shrouded in darkness. On his left, Ren and Lyserg gave him uneasy looks, while Horohoro stared intently at his plate to his right. The heavenly aroma of food that had wafted by them so deliciously as they had entered the room increased. Spices tempted his nose and he could feel saliva as it rushed to his mouth.

For a time there was little noise as the travelers ate away at the food. A knock on the chamber doors made everyone look up. A manservant, dark brown-black hair messily and yet tastefully arranged, walked to them with a silver soup tureen, trailed by two little identical twin girls. "The soup is delicious miss," complimented Yoh when they had been served.

Anna could feel herself smiling slightly. What was it about this young man that made her feel this way? "Please, I am Kyouyama Anna of Akito and I would prefer if you called me just Anna. We are, after all, only eight. This," she continued, "is Pirika, my cousin of Ainu, Jeanne, my cousin of Orin, and Tamao, my cousin of Imzu," motioning to each girl in turn.

"A pleasure to meet you," he answered, his eyes still trained on the shadowy figure on the other side of the table. "I am Asakura Yoh, and my fellow wanderers are Tao Ren, Diethyl Lyserg, and Usui Horohoro."

"Wanderers you say?" asked Pirika curiously. "Why do you wander? And for how long?"

"We have all been friends from our childhood, and wished to see the world. From there it was just a matter of planning," answered the Tao.

There was a lull in the conversation as they resumed eating. Lyserg could feel the constant unease between his fellows. As a rule, they were openly honest about their profession as vampire hunters, but something about these women put them all on their guard. Perhaps it was that they were four girls living in a supposedly abandoned castle, that they showed the outward symptoms of most vampires, or that none of them could make out the Lady who sat at the head of the table. Whatever the reason, they all felt that a little dishonesty would be in order.

"Do you not get lonely in this big castle all by yourselves?" Horohoro asked bluntly as he bit into a pork rib.

Pirika raised an eyebrow at the forwardness of his question. "We don't often get visitors, so there are times when we are lonely yes, but we have a spectacular library, and there is much to do in this castle. After all, we haven't finished fixing it up yet," she told him a touch tartly.

"Library?" Lyserg asked, suddenly interested.

"Of course," Jeanne replied. "Lady Anna is very fond of books, as I myself am, and we have many books to read. The previous owners left us the library, and because they loved collecting books, our library is quite expansive."

"I do not wish to be rude, but would it be possible to visit your library after dinner?"

Jeanne blinked at the question and her eyes flickered over to Anna for a second before nodding. "Of course," she answered him, her voice soft as new velvet. "It would be my pleasure to lead you to the library."

_Silence…It's too quiet,_ Anna thought to herself. _Perhaps I could make things a little more interesting…_ "Even wanderers must eat and sleep. Where do you get money for your travels?" she asked in an all-too-innocently interested voice.

"It's my money," Ren told her shortly. He was feeling increasingly wary of this shadowed woman who sat at the head of their table.

"Do not speak to Lady Anna in that way!" Pirika said angrily.

Ren looked startled a moment and a smirk slowly curled around his lips. "You are a very spirited woman. Admirable."

Pirika's glare could have burned a forest down to ashes but it did nothing to the Tao.

"Maa maa, Ren, Pirika-san, there is no need to argue over the dinner table…" Yoh said, trying to calm down his friend and the blue-haired girl.

Anna just laid a hand on Pirika's wrist and whispered, "No need to get all worked up, but you can pay him back for it later when we feed."

Pirika nodded imperceptibly as a smile reasserted itself on her features.

"I must apologize for my curiosity," Anna said calmly. "I have not traveled around the world in a long time and I take an interest in travelers."

Yoh imagined he saw a flash of pearly white teeth beyond her pink lips. "We are traveling on Ren's money," Yoh explained to her, falling back on the vampire hunters' standard fib about their pasts. "We've all been friends since we were little kids, and when Ren's parents died, they left him a pretty big inheritance. As a result, we've been traveling for a few years on his money."

Anna raised an eyebrow. "I see," she said, letting the words roll softly over her tongue like syrup. "Well, that very interesting, but as dinner is finished…perhaps you would like to move on to dessert?" she asked, a seductive smirk curling around her lips as her eyes rested on Yoh.

Yoh blinked in surprise as he felt his fascination for the shadowy maiden increase at her sultry words. For a moment he wondered if she was talking about him, but a large, spun-sugar contraption followed by plates and platters piled high with every imaginable sweet and confection were laid down upon the table by silent servants, and his musings were interrupted abruptly by his blue-haired friend.

"Sweets!" Horohoro cried happily, forgetting his manners a moment. The next second, over the clatter of silver dishes, he swiftly apologized for the breach. Much to his surprise, the Lady showed no annoyance, but the strawberry-haired one next to her blushed and offered to take him to the kitchens after dinner. The kitchen staff would provide the travelers with whatever food they would need until they reached the next city.

To him, the prospect of being in a place where food was made was more than enough to persuade him. Not to mention the girl who offered was sweet and delicate, like a perfect confection herself. Scolding himself for thinking like that about a stranger, he accepted her offer and promptly polished off several éclairs and three slices of blueberry pie.

Not everyone was quite as attracted to the dessert as Horohoro. Tamao herself nibbled quietly at some cookies, trying not to let herself be distracted by the way one Usui Horohoro enjoyed his dessert. She tried not to sigh as she looked wistfully down at the cookie she had been eating. Usually she was in charge of preparing the four coven members with their daily meals, the servants generally doing the cleaning and organizing of the house, but with guests, Lady Anna always felt that their large retinue of nightly servants would be the ones making dinner. Her eyes flickered over to her favorite dessert, icy sherbet in tropical flavors, but it was lying near Horohoro, who was preoccupied with brownies, vanilla ice cream, and a lot of chocolate syrup, and didn't look like it could be reached.

Tamao sighed quietly, munching the cooking as she gazed longingly, albeit surreptitiously at her favorite dessert, when it started moving towards her slowly. Looking up, she found Horohoro pushing the small bowl of icy sweetness towards her with a grin.

"You looked interested," he told her quietly, under the murmur of conversation that buzzed around them both. "Besides, you finished your cookie." He flashed her a grin and went back to his own dessert.

Blushing, Tamao picked up the small sherbet spoon and, with a quiet thanks to the blue-haired traveler, she slowly ate her favorite dessert, savoring every bite.

"Coffee or tea?" Anna asked as the dessert dishes were being cleared away some time later. "Or if there's any other drink you would prefer…brandy, red wine, or nonalcoholic fruit cocktails?"

"Fruit cocktails!" Yoh could feel his grin widening at the thought of one of his favorite drinks. As a rule vampire hunters didn't drink alcohol because it messed with their abilities, the same as coffee or caffeinated tea did. On one hand, it could be annoying because there were no available caffeine sources to wake you up when you had to spend all night on a vampire hunt, but Yoh's love of fruit drinks was boundless. Especially if they included oranges.

Ren and Lyserg both requested decaffeinated tea, and Horohoro decided on a strawberry fruit cocktail, while Yoh asked for an orange fruit cocktail. Anna nodded and asked a tall, blond serving man to prepare their orders, telling him that she and the girls would have "the usual." The usual turned out to be sweet iced tea for Pirika, hot chocolate for Tamao, Earl Grey with lemon for Jeanne, and Anna's favorite passion fruit cocktail.

Yoh glanced curiously at Anna's drink. The swirls of pinkish-red against clear were muted by the frosty mist covering the outside of the glass. From behind the paper umbrella perched on the ice cubes, Yoh could see a cherry sitting at the top, right in front of the straw that pulled the cool liquid past soft, pink lips. He could feel a blush rising to his cheeks as he told himself it wasn't right to be so attracted to a woman…girl…maiden…lady…that he didn't know. Heck, he was having a hard time figuring out what exactly to call her in his mind.

"It's a beautiful drink, Lady Anna," he said, complimenting her beverage of choice. "But what is it made of?"

Anna couldn't help but smirk, just a little as she said, "A little lemon juice, soda, cranberry juice, and passion fruit syrup." A small breeze from an open window caused the lamps in the room to flare up for a moment and illuminate her pale face, gleaming, golden hair, and crimson-chocolate eyes that held a hint of amethyst just as she whispered in a voice loud enough to reach Yoh's ears in a sultry whisper, "It's called Innocent Passion."

* * *

Yoh hoped she didn't notice the way his cheeks were flushing lightly. He imagined she could hear his heartbeat speed up at her seductive words, and he could feel his body reacting to her whisper. _Beautiful…_ The glimpse of her face that he had seen made him stop dead. He fought to keep the situation in control by inquiring at what drinks he and Horohoro had been given. 

"Yours is called an Orange Cocktail, a mix of sweet, fresh orange juice and tangy lemon juice, well blended with crushed ice and garnished with a cherry. Horohoro's is made of lemon juice, pineapple juice, strawberry puree, whipping cream, and caster sugar. Doesn't the shade it makes resemble Tamao's hair color?" The girl in question blushed prettily and murmured something inaudible. "It's called," Anna said, glancing from Tamao to Horohoro and raising her own glass and kissing the brim, "a Strawberry Kiss."

_She has got to stop…_he pleaded with whatever or whomever happened to be listening at the time. Part of him wanted her never to stop speaking to him about seductive drinks in that delicious voice of hers, but if she kept this up it was going to drive him crazy. And kissing the brim of her own glass while telling him about a drink known as "Strawberry Kiss" was pushing him straight to the edge.

Thankfully, Anna decided to stop her seductions for the moment and let the others drink their beverages in peace. As they all got up, leaving the table with empty glasses the lights slowly started to shine brighter, and she spoke. "It is nice to have guests after such a long period where no one has managed to visit us. It would be nicer if the guests were a little more truthful though. Isn't that right vampire-hunter-sans?" she asked mockingly.

Yoh and co. tensed at Anna's words. "What makes you think we are vampire hunters Anna-san?" asked Lyserg calmly, keeping the adrenaline rushing through his body out of his voice.

"A normal traveler might bear marks of his travels, as scars and such, but the palms of your hands are all almost imperceptibly by the scars that come from wielding standard silver weaponry," Jeanne told him as she set down her teacup and rose as well.

"Every single one of you ordered a drink that had neither caffeine nor alcohol in it; a common practice of vampire hunters because caffeine and alcohol dull your senses in tracking vampires," Tamao added quietly. She too was standing.

"And, you are all wearing identical silver chains around your necks that, if you look closely, protect the pulse point that blood vampires feed from as well as the aura tapping point and the base of the neck where energy vampires feed from," Pirika chipped in.

Lyserg and Horohoro traded uneasy glances as Ren clenched his teeth, looking at the beautiful, sky-blue haired girl whose eyes were filled with mocking accusations. Yoh just smiled easily. "We apologize, Lady Anna," he told her sincerely. "We were not certain of how you would react if we said we were vampire hunters."

Anna let herself smile as she replied, "Do people not thank you for your work?"

Yoh grinned ruefully. "If we were like most vampire hunters they would. We do not kill vampires. At least," he amended slowly, "we do not kill unless it is necessary."

Instantly, it was the girls that were tensed and yet intrigued, each thinking their own thoughts, but all thinking one same, central thought within the melee of others. _They don't kill vampires unless it's necessary? What vampire hunter acts like that? They are different…why?_

Anna was the first to appear to relax. "That is indeed reason enough to be cautious. I believe we must apologize for our behavior then." She paused before tilting her head to one side slightly as she glanced from Yoh to Ren. "I realize that Jeanne and Lyserg will be going to the library, and Tamao and Horohoro will be visiting the kitchens, but is there anyplace either of you would like to visit before we all turn in for the night?"

"Is there a balcony or tower where I could look out over the forest? To plot out the path to our destination," Ren explained, catching the curious glance Pirika threw him.

"I will be willing to lead you," Pirika told him. "The best tower is near my rooms at any rate so that I may retire easily after I escort you."

Ren nodded.

"I would like to visit the gallery," Yoh said quietly.

"Very well," Anna answered him.

The lights that had been slowly growing brighter during the whole exchange now flared up, illuminating the dining hall fully. For the first time since their arrival, the four vampire hunters looked at the vampire maidens that had always been partly shrouded in shadows, and stopped dead, mesmerized.

* * *

Ok, so it's not exactly a cliffie...but a half-cliffie you could say? I haven't written what the guys think of our lovely vampire ladies. That comes next chapter...which will also be the last chapter! Don't worry...too many other Shaman King fics lining themselves up in my brain for anyone to worry about me not writing them... 

And to all anonymous reviewers (at least, the ones who aren't on and so can't submit signed reviews...) please leave an email address? If you have a suggestion I like or something, I might want to email you and ask you about it so that I could add it to one of my fics. Thankies! Oh..and...please press that nice button down there that says Go and review me! I'm getting so shameless about reviews it embarrassing...

Cobalt Rose / Tenri Kage


	3. Sweets For The Sweet

The chapter's title "Sweets for the Sweet" is a line modified from Shakespeare's play Hamlet. "Sweets to the sweet" is the line but I kinda tweaked it. Thankies to **Aoi Umenokouji** for lending me her silver frying pan! It's down there in the fic...with Horohoro and Tamao. And best of all...my lovely machine is finished! The **Anime/Manga Character Duplicator/Modifier Machine (TM)** is finished! I can't wait to try it out...

**Authoress disappears off to find the Shaman King characters and duplicate them...especially Hao-sama...**

Horo: Whew...good thing Tamao-chan and I are in this chapter...or we'd be there too...

Tamao: Ne Horo-kun...she's coming back...

Horo: GAH let's go!

**Both characters disappear into the fic**

A Castle's Hospitality

Sweets for the Sweet

* * *

As the light filled the air, Horohoro had eyes only for one woman. The light made her delicately pale skin glow and filled her rose-hued eyes shine with light. He averted his eyes from her face, lest he be caught staring and have to endure her curious glances, but found himself looking at her dress instead. It clung to her torso and breasts, and the thin straps that should have held rested on her shoulders were slipping down to her upper arms in a very suggestive manner. He could see no sash around her waist and wondered how the dress fit her like a second skin until she half turned to motion to a door opposite them and he noticed how the back was laced up, baring more of her pearl-pale skin to his eyes. The skirt stopped just above her knees and had two slits reaching up to mid-thigh on both sides, black lacing identical to the ones across her back keeping them from revealing too much. Her feet were adorned with sandals that were mostly straps and silver buckles arranged at her ankles. It was only when her feet shifted that he realized she was speaking to him. 

"Huh? Sorry," he told her, blushing and scratching the back of his neck nervously. "I guess I wasn't listening."

"That's alright," Tamao said, her head tilting to one side. "The kitchens are this way."

Horohoro followed the girl while keeping his eyes trained on her shoes, trying to make sure they wouldn't wander. As he stepped into the kitchens he stopped. They were large and clean, white tiles sparkling. Oddly, the kitchen was empty. _It couldn't have taken so little time to clean all the dishes…_he thought to himself, slightly suspicious. "The kitchen staff is very efficient if they're done with all the cleaning already," he remarked offhandedly. "With all that extra food, I assumed they'd still be here."

"We have a lot of people working here," Tamao answered, a trifle defensively in his mind. "What would you like to take with you on your trip?"

_Is it just me or is she trying to change the subject?_ Horohoro decided to drop the topic of thought for the moment and twisted his face into a look of mock concentration. "We poor travelers have only been managing on travel bread, cheese, and water. Anything would sound good…but if I had to choose, I must say that the roast was very tasty…"

Tamao giggled quietly, more at ease. "I'm certain I could give you some of that soup that was served today. It's creamy and filling, and Asakura-san seemed to like it a great deal," she told him with a small smile.

"That will do fine," Horohoro answered, confused by the small stab of jealousy that he felt by the mention of Yoh. He and Yoh were great friends, and he had never felt this way towards Yoh, so he was understandably bewildered that hearing one girl mention his friend and fellow vampire hunter would make him feel such jealousy.

"Shall we get the soup then?" Tamao asked tentatively. Horohoro's normally clear, cerulean-blue eyes had darkened slightly as he had answered, and she felt uncertain and worried at his reaction to her words.

With a nod, Horohoro followed her through a door near the back of the kitchens, down a barely lit hallway, to another door. He leaned back against the opposite wall, staring at Tamao's back, crisscrossed by those black laces so dark against her pale skin. The door opened smoothly and he followed Tamao to the table where the servants sat, dining on the desserts of their meal. Tamao reached over and grasped the silver soup tureen, only to gasp in pain, the soup tureen dropping with a clang back onto the table as the servants got to their feet with cries of "Lady Tamao!"

* * *

Tamao gasped in pain as she held her hands close to her chest. Smiling weakly, she reassured the servants of her wellbeing, strengthened the shield that hid her aura and let her handle silver. Picking up the soup tureen gingerly, she felt relief seep through her body when she felt not the sharp pain of silver poisoning but the soothing cool of the spell. "The tureen was hot, that's all," she told Horohoro as they left the room, avoiding the dark-blue eyes that were filled with concern, suspicion, and confusion. 

Just as she exited the room, a hand, rough with faint calluses, stopped her by taking hold of her wrist. She was swiftly relieved of the tureen, and found herself walking behind Horohoro as they returned to the kitchens. Bewildered and slightly embarrassed by the sudden change in his manners, she quickly began packing different types of food into bags that she pillaged from the pantry.

"Here." Loading several bags into his arms, she motioned him to follow her as she hurriedly made her way down corridors and through doors to the stables. Not that it was easy since she was wearing a pair of very strappy sandals. Pausing at the stable door, she put her own bags down, panting lightly from exertion as she rested against the doorframe. She could feel shame flooding into her as she trembled, partly from the near run that she had arrived at, party from the shame and embarrassment of the way she had acted towards Horohoro.

She felt so inadequate, acting so uncertain as a 38 year old vampire.

"Hey, wait up please?" She turned as a panting Horohoro ran up next to her. He collapsed into a tired heap, buried under the 15 or so bags of food which Tamao had packed. Biting her lip to suppress a giggle, she gingerly removed the pile of bags from their perch on top of him.

"I'll take them, don't worry," Horohoro told her as he shifted the bags quickly, loading up each of the horses equally.

With a very un-Tamao-like sound that might have been a snort if Pirika had made it, Anna and Jeanne being too calm and collected to make such a noise, Tamao picked up some of the remaining bags and followed Horohoro into the stables to the horses.

A shrill whinny made her wince, the horses rearing in nervousness. Quickly, she added more power into her shield, knowing that some vampire hunters trained their steeds to detect vampire auras. She could see Horohoro rubbing the noses of first one horse, then another, as he attempted to calm them down. Pulling an apple out of his pocket, he gripped it firmly and twisted, making the two halves fall neatly apart. He fed them to two horses, and then repeated the process for the remaining two while she watched quietly.

* * *

Horohoro frowned as he soothed the frisky, finicky mounts. Their reaction to Tamao was suspicious and it did nothing to quell his deepening concern. Horohoro was seriously beginning to get suspicious. She was pale, had a liking for fancy black clothing, she lived with three others who were very much like her, had reacted strangely when she picked up the silver soup tureen in the other room, and was exciting a vampire-reaction from the horses. 

_But she's so sweet…too sweet to be a vampire…_

Another inner voice chided him. _Haven't your travels with Yoh taught you that not all vampires are bad? That sometimes it's the humans who are the bad ones?_

He could see Tamao packing bags away onto still-skittish horses, but he was too wrapped up in his own thoughts to let his mind wander from the turmoil of his musings. _There are times when I think I feel her aura. Or the aura of a vampire hanging around her, but it's always so faint, masked, that I can't tell. I can't be certain. _Horohoro grumbled softly as he followed Tamao back to the kitchens.

It was only when his sandals, the ones he had found in his bedroom, met the tiles of the kitchen floor that he looked up. He had been so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he hadn't noticed where they were. What he did notice though, was the pile of cookies sitting in a neat silver tray next to a silver-handled glass pitcher of milk.

"You and your cousins are quite odd Tamao-san," Horohoro told her laughing as he gestured towards the tray and jug. "Almost every utensil you have is made of silver! Even this frying pan!"

* * *

Tamao blushed as he picked up a silver frying pan that had been lying inconspicuously on the counter. "I-it's Lady Anna's hobby of collecting lots of silver things, Usui-san," she stammered. 

Horohoro grinned at her. "Just call me Horohoro or Horo, not Usui-san. It makes me feel old and I'm just 18!" he told her.

"Y-yes, sure." She pointed to the pile of cookies. "You can have some if you'd like…only…" she blushed a darker shade of red than before. "You have to tell me what made you, Yoh-san, Ren-san, and Diethyl-san decide only to kill vampires when necessary."

Horohoro raised an eyebrow and picked up a cookie from the top of the pile. He glanced at the chocolate chips and then bit into it, savoring the taste. "We each have our own story," he told her, his mouth half full of cookie. He nodded his thanks to Tamao as she got him a glass and poured him some milk. Washing the sweet down with the cold beverage, he began.

"I wasn't always a traveling wanderer. I've been traveling with Yoh and Ren and Lyserg for the past five years, but before then, a long way before, I was just Horohoro Usui, age 10, trying my best to help my parents in their weaponry shop. I guess you could say that I'm the one who provides the group with interesting silver-made weapons. But my parents were murdered by a group of blood vampires that passed by my village." Horohoro's voice darkened and Tamao looked at him, sorrow filling her heart at his misfortune. She knew what it was like to have somebody kill your parents.

"I picked out the best weapons in my parents' shop and traveled for two years, looking for the ones who killed them. But I managed to get myself lost before I managed to find them. I was saved by a little girl. She led me to her oak-tree house, brought me food and water, and made sure I was okay. If it wasn't for her, for little Kororo, I'd have died, lost in the forest with little to eat and less to drink. She taught me how to track vampires better, what things could hurt them, how to spot some symptoms of vampires…and two weeks after Kororo let me out past the boundaries of her home, the villagers found us." Tamao flinched as Horohoro bit into a cookie in an attempt to keep the bitterness from his voice.

"She only had time to warn me to hide my aura before she went out to face them, to fight them to protect me… Because I was human, because I couldn't fight humans the way she could fight them. Because she was a vampire… And I thought of her as my imouto-chan. Just because she was a vampire…they killed her because she was a vampire. Not because she did anything wrong, but because she was a blood vampire who needed to feed every so often. A month she could go without feeding, but afterwards she'd feel weak and tired. Even I could tell when Kororo hadn't eaten, even if I didn't know why she was acting the way she did. She was so weak when it happened…" Horohoro whispered to himself, feeling old guilt all over again. Letting the guilt fade, he turned to Tamao, drinking the last of the milk in his glass.

"I blamed myself for her death," he told her quietly, eyes dark and filled with pain. "Because I wasn't strong enough, I couldn't help her. I couldn't protect the imouto-chan I had made over the six months I spent there. So I trained. I trained myself for her memory, for the little girl who loved nature and didn't like having to feed upon innocent people. And when I met Yoh, Ren, and Lyserg who were passing through, I asked them to take me with them. They didn't have the proper weapons, and I had saved the best from my family's shop. I also had many ideas for weapons that I had developed over the last six months alone in Kororo's house." He grinned softly, the hurt fading from his eyes as he turned to Tamao. "They had already agreed not to kill a vampire unless completely necessary. Most vampires that plagued villages were of the evil sort, weak ones who had given into the bloodlust or energy lust that made them hunger. But if we met a good vampire who only fed because they had to, and didn't take a lot, who had found the wrong sort of village or place to feed off of, we tried our best to help them relocate."

"It's a very noble cause that you and your friends work for," Tamao told him quietly, head bowed.

"We would all like to think so," Horohoro answered, leaning back against the counter, his hands clasped behind his neck. His fingers played with the clasp of the silver chain around his neck as he looked at Tamao.

Aware of his gaze, Tamao averted her eyes to his empty glass. "I'll fill that with milk for you," she said hurriedly, reaching out for the pitcher.

"It's alright."

Tamao turned nervously at the tone of his voice, surprised by the commanding tone in it. From his normal behavior, she wouldn't have expected it. The serious tone just didn't fit with the view of Horohoro being a sweet-toothed, casual, easy-going guy who was optimistic about his future and tried to make up for his past by doing what he felt was right. The first thing she noticed was that the silver protection chain was in his hands. Not around his neck. His eyes were calm, serious, and determined; it scared her terribly. And she did not want to be scared.

"Tamao, I know you're a vampire. Your aura shield is low and I can sense it."

She froze, every muscle in her body refusing to respond to her brains commands of running away or biting him and killing him. She couldn't. She was too startled and confused by his implications, and finding herself caring too much for him to kill him. _I can't…I can't Horohoro…_

His hands took her by the waist, pulling her close to his warm body as he tilted his head to the right, exposing the pulse point. Tamao gulped audibly. She needed to feed and wanted so badly to sink her fangs into his neck, but her heart wouldn't let her, because she couldn't hurt him. "Tamao." The whisper caused her to flinch, but Horohoro just pulled her closer, his hands running soothingly up and down her back, calming her as she was pulled against him, her lips dangerously close to his skin.

"Please Horohoro," she whispered, knowing she was begging and too far gone to care. "I can't…I don't…I've never had anyone offer to let me feed," she told him, her voice breaking.

"It's alright, shhh. It's fine. I wouldn't let a sweet vampire like yourself go hungry… Please, don't be stubborn like Kororo, Tamao-chan," he whispered into her hair, warm breath brushing her ears. "It won't hurt me, I promise."

Tamao nodded, her forehead resting against his shoulder as tears rolled down her cheeks and soaked into the fabric of his shirt. "I won't…" she swallowed, trying not to let her voice break, "I won't change you into a vampire…"

"I know," he told her softly. "I know."

Tamao gave a shuddering sigh as she placed her lips against his pulse point, savoring the softness of his skin before sinking her teeth into his flesh. Warm blood, sweet and filling, so savory, filled her mouth. She could feel Horohoro stiffen as she drank the deliciousness of his being. But even as the blood pooled into her mouth, even as she felt it strengthen her, she cried.

* * *

Horohoro gritted his teeth against the pain of her sharp fangs, taking deep breaths, his fingers curling around the handle of the silver frying pan in an effort to distract himself from the pain. And then it stopped. But not quite stopped. He could feel the softness of her lips as she drank his blood, the delicate stroke of her tongue against his tender flesh, and took a deep, shaky breath to keep from groaning in pleasure as she continued to drink. Even as he felt himself growing weaker, the pleasurable feeling of her lips and tongue caressing his skin intensified until he was groaning, sliding down against the counter to settle on the floor as Tamao removed her fangs from his skin and licked the broken flesh clean with her tongue. 

"Hey, don't cry." He wiped away the traces of her tears with tender fingers. He twisted his head around in an attempt to look at the punctures she must have left in his skin, but being unable to see the marks, he brushed a finger across them. He winced a little at the way his rough fingers scraped across the sensitive skin, but instantly regretted it when Tamao winced with him. He could practically feel her apology like it was tangible.

"It doesn't matter. You're full, and I'm hungry so…" Horohoro made some attempts to get up off the floor, but it was in vain. The blood sapped from his body having not yet been renewed. All he managed to do was grab the handle of the silver frying pan…which had not been his actual goal.

Tamao giggled and got up, getting the tray of cookies, the empty glass, and the milk. She poured the still-cold milk into the glass and offered both glass and cookie to Horohoro.

"Whoa, hold on…" Horohoro said, blushing and holding the frying pan between then. "I've never been fed by a vampire before…and not one as pretty as you…" he said, it a quieter voice.

Tamao blushed a little, more in control of her features now that she had fed. She relieved him of his frying pan shield, and placed the cookie against his lips. "You do need to eat," she told him with a playful note in her voice.

Horohoro grinned and bit into the cookie, picking up another one and offering it to Tamao as he took a sip of his milk. She raised an eyebrow and looked at the cookie a while before taking it and biting it.

"So what is this?" she asked, referring to his offer of the cookie. "Vampires don't need to eat normal food for a few days after they feed you know."

Horohoro grinned and leaned forward until his lips were lightly brushing her ear. "It's called 'sweets for the sweet,' Tamao-chan," he told her in a seductive whisper. He kissed her cheek lightly before leaning back against the counter to finish his cookie, watching a pink Tamao with a satisfied air.

* * *

Thank you to all the people who reviewed! The next chapter will be JeannexLyserg, then PirikaxRen, and finally AnnaxYoh...and THEN we'll have my final chapter. I was persuaded against making the fic only 3 chappies long. **Returns Aoi's silver frying pan to her.**Thank you Aoi for lending me the frying pan. Horohoro made use of it ne?And now you all know what I'm going to say...Review Please! 

Cobalt Rose


	4. Not A Fairytale

Hello! This is the JeannexLyserg chapter! Dedicated to all those JeannexLyserg fans who read stuff like that...if you don't like it, since there's no characters other than Jeanne and Lyserg, you might as well just skip this chapter. The RenxPirika chapter is halfway finished and I've already started on the YohxAnna chapter, so...If this doesn't interest you, wait a day or two...sometime interesting might be updated...(sorry for working so slowly)

Anyway, the story!

A Castle's Hospitality

Not a Fairytale

* * *

In the brightness of the light that flooded the dining hall after their meal, Lyserg could not tear his eyes away from Jeanne. Her silvery hair flowed down in subtle waves, accenting the dark, black gown she wore. The gown itself was demure, exposing enough perfect, pristine skin to be tantalizing, but also enough to know that the maiden wearing it was delicate and refined. The bodice was laced up, not with cord, but with lengths of silk ribbon, hinting at black lace. Her sleeves were puffed and smooth as water. Not a wrinkle marred the beauty of her image. But looking into her crimson eyes, Lyserg felt, just a little stronger than before, the aura of a vampire. And yet, the eyes themselves were clouded too…as if by pain…or just caution… 

"Please follow me," she said quietly, a small smile playing about her lips. "The library is this way."

Lyserg followed the silent girl, staring at the rustling fabric of her gown. His suspicions were up but there was no point in accusing someone he barely knew. _No point…_

Jeanne glanced at him surreptitiously as she led the way up a set of stairs, down a hallway, and through a series of gloomily furnished chambers. "These rooms are the ones we use least in the castle, aside from the still unused part," she told him, surprising herself. It wasn't like her to volunteer information. She was the secretive one of the coven…aside from Lady Anna, who could manage to seem all open while keeping everything hidden… Shaking her head lightly, she pushed those thoughts from her head and concentrated on what Lyserg was saying.

"Everything is richly furnished though. Either the previous owners were quite a rich lord and lady, or Lady Anna has a very large inheritance." Lyserg glanced at her and smiled slightly. "Or perhaps I am wrong. It could possibly be the joint inheritance of all four of you."

Jeanne pushed a door open slowly, smiling back at him. "You're very observative Diethyl-san."

"Please, call me Lyserg," he told her as he stepped through the doors into the library. Everything else he might have wanted to say flew out of his mind as he stared at the library. Glittering chandeliers hug from the ceiling, throwing warm, golden light throughout the room. Rows upon rows of book-filled bookshelves beckoned him, and far back, he could barely make out a fireplace and couches. Looking up, he noticed there was a second floor, all of inner balconies. The large windows reflected the storm that raged outside, but most of him concentrated on the books. He didn't even notice that his sandaled feet were walking over thick carpeting as he observed one book, then the next, marveling at their condition.

Behind him, Jeanne lit a lamp with a practiced hand. She let him wander through the bookshelves, back and forth, the number of books he carried slowly increasing each time he passed by the main aisle. _He really does love books,_ she mused to herself as she took the lamp in hand, looking for something to read herself. Settling on a few novels, she glanced down the next aisle to see Lyserg poring over a thick tome with a rather largish pile of books next to him.

"Ano…Lyserg-san?"

"Oh! I'm sorry," he apologized swiftly, returning the bulky book to its place as he laughed softly in an apologetic manner. "I forgot that this isn't a public library. It's just that there were so many good books…" He picked up the pile of books at his feet and walked after her to the couches.

"It's quite alright, Lady Anna and I do that a lot. It's very nice to have someone in the library who appreciates books so much." She started to get a fire going in the fireplace when a hand took her wrist and pulled her up.

"Please, let me. It is not right for a lady to prepare a fire. Especially a lady like yourself," Lyserg told her quietly, his voice steady and even.

"That is very kind of you," Jeanne remarked softly, drawing back from the fireplace and Lyserg got the fire going. "I'll be right back, I'm sure you'd like some tea to have with your book-reading."

Lyserg nodded absentmindedly as he settled down on a chair with the book on the top of the pile. At first he was aware of the rustle of Jeanne's skirts as she left, and a while later, he heard the faint click of the doors to the library close with her departure. There was no noise and his awareness slowly began to fade, when he felt a sudden burst of vampire's aura. Instantly, he was on his guard. There was not a sound, but he closed his book and set it on the low, coffee table piece of furniture by him. Slowly aware that the fire had burned low, leaving him in partial darkness, he strengthened his reading senses, shocked to find that the aura was approaching him faster than he had ever imagined. Flinging himself to the left, he evaded the blur of black cloth and pale skin.

He managed to grab both of the vampire's wrists and pin her to the couch, but it was only when she stopped struggling and he recognized the deep, crimson eyes and silver waves of hair that he realized who it was. "Jeanne!"

Shocked and somewhat breathless from the struggle, Lyserg stared at the vampire girl, who had a determined look on her face, as he straddled her lap to keep her from attacking him again. Her whole manner exuded a persistence and resignation to her capture, though her eyes were filled with pain and, oddly, hunger. Still, he was mostly bewildered by how his senses had failed him most of the evening. _When has she last fed? Is that why I could feel her vampire's aura faintly after dinner?_ "Jeanne, when have you last had a meal?"

She raised her eyes in defiance and answered, "This evening. You saw me."

Lyserg's eyes softened, feeling admiration for the vampire who sat their like a queen instead of a captive. "I meant the last time you've had any blood," he addressed her in a quiet voice.

Though she clenched her teeth to keep from answering, Jeanne couldn't help looking up into his emerald eyes. Seeing the kindness in his eyes surprised her, and the answer spilled from her lips like water. "A month and a half." Jeanne couldn't understand why her heart felt elated by the concern that flooded his eyes.

"A month and a half…" His lips formed the words, surprised and worried at the answer given. "But vampires…even strong vampires, can't go much more than a month without feeding…" he whispered in awed concern.

Jeanne nodded. "I need to feed, but we are so far from civilization…I can't feed regularly. I am used to going for a month and a half without feeding if need be, but I am hungry…" She traced a pattern on the couch cushion beside her, pointedly avoiding Lyserg's eyes. "So if I don't get any blood soon…" her voice trailed off. Taking a deep breath, she looked up, her eyes penetrating his with her gaze. "Do what you have to, vampire hunter. I would rather be killed at your hands than die of starvation."

He could feel his eyes widening at the bold, straightforwardness of the captive vampire. "I don't kill vampires unless necessary, even if they do attack me for a meal. Not since Morphine."

"Morphine?" she asked, curiosity getting the better of her.

"The vampire who changed my life," he told her, his voice taking on an endearing quality.

Jeanne nodded, keeping her face void of the sudden jealousy at the tone of his voice. She didn't want to admit it, but there was something in her that wanted to be the one that made his voice soft and loving, make it take on that quality that could be brought out by your heart's desires. "Tell me about Morphine?" she requested, tilting her head upwards to look into his soft, forest-green eyes.

* * *

"Morphine actually features much later in this story," he told her as he loosened his hold on her wrists. Pausing, he considered his decision to let her go. "Do you promise not to attack me if I let you go?"

Jeanne shook her head. "I can't promise that…your pulse is too attractive right now…" Her eyes were hungrily fastened on the pulse that beat under the silver chain around his neck.

Lyserg's lips twisted into a saddened smile. "I can't blame your hunger. One cannot help one's nature," he told her softly. Shifting his weight so that Jeanne would be comfortable, he held her wrists in a loose hold, making sure that he wouldn't hurt her. He rolled one shoulder so that his muscles wouldn't cramp up as he leaned over the vampire maiden and missed the surprisingly tender look in her eyes. "When I was younger, as a child of 11, my parents were killed in a fire. The day they died was one of the most confusing I have ever lived in my life. But what confused me the most was why they died. I remember my mother and father filling me with their powers of sensing vampires, and pushing me out of the house before it collapsed. I remember them telling me they loved me…" his voice broke.

On their own accord, her hands reached out to cup his face, but her movement only incited Lyserg to tighten his hold on her wrists a moment before he realized her intention. Her fingers softly traced the contours of his cheek as she tried to soothe the hurt that burned raw at the loss of his parents. "You were lucky," she whispered, letting her voice float up to his ears. "You saw them before they died…you remember them telling you they loved you…my parents never had that chance. I never had the chance to tell them how much they meant to me…" For a quiet moment the two stayed in mutual understanding, realizing that they shared similar hurts.

"Afterwards, I wandered the town, a lost boy. The man who ran a rivaling divination and charm shop to my parents' told me that a vampire, that Morphine had killed them. That Morphine was the one who set fire to our house," Lyserg continued, taking a deep breath, feeling an odd sense of loss as Jeanne's comforting hands left his cheeks to drop back to her sides. "I vowed revenge and searched for her using the power that my parents had left me. It took a whole year to do it, but I managed to find her and confront her. I wanted to know why she would kill my parents. But when I attacked her, though I had a feeling she could hurt me and feed off of me, she never touched me. She evaded all my attacks but she never tried to hurt me, and when I had worn myself out, she told me the truth."

"She wasn't the one who killed my parents," he told Jeanne quietly, lowering his lips nearer to her ears so she could hear him. "She didn't kill him, but the man who ran the shop that rivaled my parents'…he paid assassins to kill them, to set fire to our house, and framed it on her. He figured that I would die trying to kill Morphine…and I would have, if she had tried to hurt me." He shook his head in regret. "Morphine taught me that not all people are right, and that vampires…are sometimes the victims of humans. She taught me that no one is free from manipulation."

Jeanne tugged her right hand lightly from his grasp and laid the warm, slightly callused palm against her smooth, pale cheek. _You are right Lyserg-san,_ she thought sadly, _no one is free from manipulation._ Knowing she had no right to speak, not while he was so enclosed in his memories, she contented herself with running her fingers lightly over his knuckles, soothed by the fact that she could comfort him, even in a small way. _Why am I feeling this way? Why…_she wondered. _Why do I…find myself attracted…to Lyserg…_ She couldn't deny the flutter of her heart when she heard his heartbeat slow marginally, a sign that he was calming down, and felt his thumb brush lightly across her cheek.

Lyserg could feel his lips almost curving into a smile, and continued, feeling more confident as he spoke. "I wish I had not spoken about revenge in front of Morphine though. Her nature…was confused, I think. She cared for everything too much, and in the end, it brought about her downfall. She wished to avenge me, and hunted after the people who murdered my family. I should have stopped her," he whispered into Jeanne's hair. "The villagers were so angry…and they killed her when she went out to feed. They cast me out as a traitor to my blood. I couldn't return…I understood their anger…but Morphine was the first person outside of my family who willingly approached me and offered me everything they had in exchange for so little."

"I trained, I learned to fend for myself in the woods, and always honed my skills in detecting vampire's aura. I met Yoh and Ren soon after my 13th birthday, and found Horohoro as we passed through the next forest. That was nearly five years ago," he murmured in a quiet tone of surprise.

He released Jeanne's hands and brought his other up to cup her face. "I trust you. You are not a weak vampire like the ones consumed by bloodlust." He could feel her arms wrap around his neck, pulling him close, running along the length of the chain around his throat, and he didn't pull away. Not even when he felt her subtly questing fingers find the clasp of the chain and strip him of the protection that kept him from being vulnerable to the fangs of a vampire.

* * *

Jeanne slowly removed the necklace, but froze when he pulled back a little to look into her eyes. No matter how much she wished to tear her gaze away, she was caught. By what, she didn't have the courage to name. She had not found acceptance since the coven, and she had almost forgotten the ache it could create in one's heart. _It's more than acceptance…it is like the look a vampire would give his or her mate…_ She forced her mind away from the thought, unwilling to encounter whatever hope would lie there. "You aren't stopping me…" she told him quietly, surprised, and yet not, that he didn't restrain her again.

"You need this." It wasn't a question.

But she answered anyway, nodding. "I do."

Her heart constricted at the kind compliance she met in his eyes. Her own eyes felt dark and clouded, and yet she could see so clearly as she lowered her lips to his pulse. But she couldn't bite. Not when she didn't know. "Why are you doing this?" she asked, her lips brushing lightly against his pale skin.

She could feel his shudder under her lips. "Because I care about you. I don't want you hungry and I can handle you taking blood from me." Lyserg pulled away from her and brushed her cheeks lightly with his thumbs as he lowered his lips to her forehead. Jeanne could feel heat radiating from her cheeks, and she noticed vaguely that Lyserg appeared to be blushing faintly as well. "I care about you…even if I've known you for such a short time…because I feel like I've known you longer."

Jeanne could only nod as she lowered her lips to his neck, to the warm pulse point there, and sank her fangs into his flesh.

The small, almost inaudible, groan of pain made her almost pull away, but Lyserg's hands rubbed her back and she soon relaxed into his arms. Slowly, tentatively, she allowed Lyserg's blood to pool into her mouth, trying not to moan in pleasure as the savory, rich taste swept her senses. Careful so as his blood didn't mar the clothing he wore, she swallowed and continued drinking. It was like wine, intoxicating, and she could feel her control slipping. Desperately she tried to keep herself from losing herself in the pull of bloodlust, wanting to save the man who held her so protectively, let her drink his blood without a qualm, and looked at her with deep affection in his eyes.

Her heartbeat was audible in her ears. _Lyserg-kun,_ she thought, the polite -san honorific dropping in her mind, _what would make you do this? Does it have to do with the way I feel around you?_

Lyserg could feel himself growing weaker, but he trusted Jeanne utterly. Still rubbing her back and caressing her neck so that she wouldn't notice his weakness, he whispered soothing murmurs into her ears. After the initial pain of her fangs, all he felt was a dull throb that matched his heartbeat. But more than that, he could feel the tug of her tongue as it licked up his blood and the softness of her lips as they pressed against his pulse point. He couldn't stop himself from imagining a different reason for why they might be pressed there. Something more intimate than just letting her feed off his blood. His sensitive skin reacted with each flick and swirl of her tongue against his flesh, and he bit his lip against a groan of mingled pain and pleasure.

His world seemed to be drifting away as Jeanne carefully removed her fangs from him and licked up the excess blood from the punctures. The movement was so innocently sensuous that he did moan. Seeing her head glance up to him through his blurry vision, he fought to keep his smile in place as he felt the darkness consume him.

Jeanne jerked in surprise when Lyserg's head fell against her shoulder and shook him lightly. "Lyserg-kun no baka," she whispered quietly as she moved the unconscious boy into a more comfortable position on the couch. "You should have told me I was taking too much…" She brushed her lips against his forehead, though tears filled her eyes and threatened to spill over. _Thank you Lyserg-kun,_ she thought to herself. _Thank you for the meal…and for the acceptance…_ Stroking his cheek softly with a cool finger, she smiled. It wasn't just the fact that she was content and full, but that a feeling of…it could be called possessiveness…seemed to wrap her up concerning the unconscious green-haired one in her arms.

* * *

Whew...that was quite a chapter...I get the feeling I'm getting more and more angsty...and I don't do angst very well. Ah well...back to the next chapter...

RenxPirika...a good couple...oh and...review? please?

Cobalt Rose


	5. Eye Of The Storm

I'm so sorry this took longer than I promised! But now it's up, the promised RenxPirika chapter, longer than the others, and **grins** my personal favorite so far. I think I'm seriously taking a liking to this pairing...so that means that I might start putting up random oneshots with those two now. You never know. Thank you all for those lovely reviews! I never thought this story would end up being so popular...but it's got more reviews in four chapters than my other story that has five chapters. I am duly flattered. THANK YOU! Anyway, on to the story right? Right? Of course.

Tenri Kage

A Castle's Hospitality

Eye of the Storm

* * *

Ren felt his breath catch in his throat, and he forced his lungs to take in air as the light, as well as the beautiful maiden before him, dazzled his eyes. There was something about her, perhaps the regal way she held her head, or the waterfall of cerulean that reached her waist. But whatever it was, it made him stop and watch her. The high collar of her dress accentuated the pale, slim column of her throat, and the shortness of her sleeves left her arms bare. She was a fine-boned lady, her arms white with just a touch of color, her fingernails glinting in the light with a faint coating of the palest clear blue. The dark, black silk hugged her body in a sensuous way, the embroidery pattern of roses creeping over her, subtle in his eyes. No matter how hard he tried not to let his eyes be caught by the way the material clung to her chest or hips, he could not help but look. He averted his eyes lower, and instantly regretted it when he caught a sliver of pale thigh before it disappeared behind the curtain of her dress. 

"Follow me Ren-san, the tower is in this direction."

Her words jerked him out of his reverie. He inclined his head slightly to her and followed her delicate steps out of the dining hall. Though used to the sight of women in fancy clothing from a young age, as well as because of his current job as a vampire hunter, there was something about this beautiful, cerulean haired girl, clothed in garments so familiar to him, that captured his mind. It was only several staircases and hallways later that he realized how deeply into the castle they had gone.

"Where exactly are we going?" he queried.

"Up to the central tower of the castle. It has the best view of the forest. It does happen to be up a high set of stairs, which is strenuous at best for those who aren't used to it, but I'm sure it'll be no trouble for you. You are a vampire hunter after all," she informed him. The challenge was subtle but evident by the playful and mischievous glint in her eyes.

Ren raised an eyebrow. If the bewitching woman wanted to play, that would be that. He inclined his head slightly. "Perhaps it is no problem. I suppose the travels we have had might have trained me enough," he told her, letting his own golden eyes tell her that the challenge had been accepted.

Pirika's lips curved into a smile and nodded. She led him higher, up a spiral staircase to four doors of polished wood. Mahogany, ebony, black cherry, and amaranth wood, made up the four doors. Each one had the owner's name engraved in flowing script and filled with gold. "Mahogany, Tamao's rooms, a medium-textured and mostly straight grained wood. The door is heartwood of the red-brown kind. Ebony," she continued, as they passed each door, "Lady Anna's rooms, a fine-textured and straight, wavy, or irregularly grained wood. The door is black heartwood. Black cherry, Jeanne's rooms, a straight grained and fine-textured wood. We used red heartwood for the door." She flashed Ren a grin before gesturing to the last door. "Amaranth wood, also known as purpleheart, my rooms, is usually straight grained and varies from a fine to medium texture. The heartwood is a peculiar purple shade which fades to a rich brown hue from oxidation."

Ren glanced at the smiling Pirika surreptitiously, impressed in spite of himself. "Your knowledge of woods is extensive," he commented, trying not to let his amazement at her informed manner show.

She inclined her head to him graciously, her grin now a little more evident. "It is in my nature, to love nature," she told him, the curve of her lips twisting into a light smirk of satisfaction. "I am pleased to be able to impress you, Ren-san. There are things about you that interest me. Particularly, the fact that you will not kill every vampire you meet," she said bluntly, pushing open the heavy doors to the central tower.

Stairs curved from the door to the left, arching up into the distance, high above. Ren could barely make out the landing that was their destination. _A very…challenging staircase. But Tao Ren does not back down. Especially when an alluring woman decides to play games._ A determined grin flashed across his features, and the amber of his eyes darkened in anticipation. With an almost careless gesture, he offered Pirika his hand, and together they began the assent.

Several turns later, Ren had to admit that the staircase was more daunting than he had imagined. It wasn't that he was fatigued, but that he knew he owed it to the long training sessions of the past that he was not feeling aches in his calves. More than that, he was surprised that Pirika was not weary. She was so slim and delicate looking, beautiful and refined, that he had difficulty imagining her as someone who could tirelessly climb such a wearying set of stairs. _Unless she were a vampire._ An uncertain part of his mind declared the statement completely unfounded, but looking over the evening, he was slowly getting more and more suspicious.

* * *

"What so absorbs the great Tao?" Pirika asked teasingly. She knew she was acting flirtatious on purpose, but she had seen the look of concentration cross his face, and she wasn't particularly interested in finding out if the thought had contained anything about vampires. 

"I was wondering how often you come up here. This staircase obviously doesn't fatigue you," he stated.

Pirika nodded in assent. "It is very soothing to be up there. Every one of us goes up there at least every other day. With Jeanne, it is to read books, with Tamao, it is to feed the birds that sometimes roost there. With Lady Anna, she just comes up to look out over the land and feel the wind, so she says. I go up there because I need to tend the plants up there, and the view is wonderful. The sunsets are a marvel on their own," she said, half to him and half to herself.

"And what of sunrises?" he asked.

Pirika stiffened slightly. As a vampire the sunrises was a little tougher to stand than the sunset, because of the pain it caused the eyes. It wasn't so much the intensity of the light as it was the newness of it, and the way it shone directly into the eyes. Pirika had often found it much harder to stand than daylight, which was easy for them to stand because of a variant aura cloaking spell that Jeanne had found in the library. "I have never been able to see one clearly. I am usually much too tired so early in the morning," she told him lightly, her laughter at her own self-pointed joke meant as a distraction.

"Is that so? It's a pity, for sunrises are as beautiful as sunsets in my opinion," Ren replied, mentally noting how she had seemed to freeze for a millisecond before answering.

"I would like to see that," she mused quietly, glancing over the railing of the staircase to measure the distance from the ground.

Ren was surprised at the unholy urge he had to scare her by jerking her towards the railing and catching her before she could be hurt. Fighting down the blush that threatened to override his cheeks, he contented himself with stepping closer to her and making an offer. "I could wake you tomorrow and let you see the sunrise before I left."

She started, hearing a voice so close, and gave a squeak of surprise to find him next to her. Stumbling backwards, she almost bumped into the railing before Ren's arms took her by the waist and pulled her from the dizzying edge. But this had her against his chest and in his arms before she could realize what was going on. Indignation rose in her throat and burst out in her words. "Ren-san! Please, what are you doing!"

He was understandably surprised at her forceful cry. "I'm saving your life woman!" he told her in irritation, pulling her away from the edge.

"I'm FINE thank you," she said hotly, slipping out of his grasp. She turned away and continued up the steps at a faster pace, furious at Ren and furious at herself. Her cheeks were flaming with her blushes, and her mind seemed to want to keep only on the comforting solidness of Ren's embrace. _Baka, whatever happened to being on your guard?_ she chided herself. _You could have fallen off the stairs, and when you DIDN'T die, Ren would know you were a vampire._ Pirika sighed as she slowed down, her hand pressed against the racing of her heart. She didn't know why her heart was beating so quickly, but it was a wonderful and yet horrible feeling, like the way her eyes burned when she watched a sunrise. Beautiful and yet painful all at once.

Lifting her foot for the next stair, she was surprised to find that it was not there. She had already arrived at the landing without realizing it. Ren was only a step behind her. To her admiration and slight consternation, he was hardly breathing heavily.

"A very lovely set of stairs indeed Pirika-san," he told her. "It was quite a workout, though not a match for some of the worse trainings I have had while traveling with Yoh and the others."

Pirika said nothing, quietly contemplating how one man could be so different. There were times like now where he was a touch arrogant, though it made her a little more intrigued with him each time, and times like when he had pulled her from the edge of the staircase where he was rude and yet concerned. But what occupied her mind the most was how, for the moment where he had her in his arms, before she had cried out and pulled away, she had felt as though she had found herself and become whole. It scared her with the magnitude of feeling that had swept her up in its waves.

Ren stepped onto the landing and gazed about appreciatively. Inside there were chairs and couches, tables and even a desk. Potted plants from which bloomed various flowers flourished in odd corners. Tucked between some plush seats was a medium sized fireplace that was well used. "You must come here often," he remarked, noting the fireplace. Without waiting for a reply, he stepped out onto the balcony and stopped. It circled the tower all around, shielded from the rain by the wide shingles that jutted out for that purpose. Stretched out below was the forest. As far as he could see through the pouring rain, there were trees in all directions. _We are stuck in the middle of the largest forest I have ever seen in my life…_he thought with a sort of dread.

"Does the sight satisfy your curiosity Ren-san?" Pirika asked as she stepped outside, her voice taking on a teasing lilt.

"Someone should have told me we were in the middle of a gigantic forest. Is there a single map that will assure that we won't get lost? I don't trust my companions with maps. Especially Yoh. He's the one who got us lost in the first place," he muttered to her in explanation.

Pirika's lips curved into a smile. "Your friends are indeed very interesting. You aren't like other vampire slayers." She walked over to the railing and leaned against it, her back to the rain behind her. "Why is that?"

"Experiences," Ren told her as he leaned his elbows against the railing next to her, staring out through the rain.

The smile had faded from her lips, but she managed to keep her voice light. "Care to explain?" She was startled by how concerned she sounded, but Ren didn't seem to notice. He was already deep in thought, remembering why he became who he was.

* * *

"Ever since I was young, I was taught that vampires were evil. I know they aren't now," he said softly, glancing over at Pirika, "but before, I believed what my parents told me. But, my sister, Jun, didn't always agree. And when I was eight, she disappeared. One day she was at home like always, learning various lessons with me and cheering me up, and the next day, my parents told me she was dead. Moreover, that she had been killed by a vampire by the name of Li Pyron." 

"My parents had never been close to me, and for a long time I had considered my sister the only family I truly had. The fact that she was now dead was enough to drive me to the brink of insanity." With a sigh, Ren turned over to copy Pirika and rested his back against the railing, bracing himself with his elbows. "For days I let hatred consume me until all I could think about was revenge, and when I could finally think about vampires without screaming out my rage, I trained myself with the goal of wiping out all vampires." He glanced surreptitiously at Pirika, trying to gauge her reaction, but her eyes were trained on the glass doors that separated them from the indoors, and their dark-blueness was unreadable.

"For four years I trained myself under my parents' tutelage so that I could one day rid the world of vampires, but before I gave myself that chance, something happened that changed my outlook on vampires forever. Our house caught fire."

"What!" Pirika was shocked out of her silence by the awkwardness of Ren's statement. "How does your house catching fire have anything to do with vampires?" she asked matter-of-factly.

Ren threw her a grin. "You're talking again."

She blinked in surprise. "You said your house caught fire to get me to talk?"

"Only partly," he told her. "Our house really did catch fire one night. I found out when someone crashed through my window." He caught her gaze with his own and said quietly, "Jun crashed through my window that night. Before I knew what was happening, she had paralyzed me using certain pressure points, and flew me out of the house into the surrounding forests. She was bleeding from a lot of cuts, but she managed to get us both to relative safety. I, of course, demanded answers as soon as we touched the ground. And what I found out was something I would never have imagined, even if it made perfect sense."

Pirika was silent as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, moving a little closer to the thoughtful vampire-hunter beside her. Ren took no notice as a bittersweet smile crossed his face. "When I was six and Jun was eleven, she had befriended a vampire named Li Pyron. Two years later, she became his mate and let him change her into a vampire. My parents could not accept this and disowned her. They told me she had died and when I trained, they planned to have me kill her and Li for who they were. They wouldn't let her see me and placed powerful wards around the house so that she would never manage to speak to me. She managed to spot me once, a month before the fire, and seeing how hard I was training to kill her kind, she was determined to tell me the truth. But things had gone horribly wrong. As the fire blazed in the distance, she told me that Li was dead and she was dying. All because my parents could not accept the race of vampires or my sister's love for one."

A cool hand rested on his own for a moment, the faint weight of it comforting. "Love is a noble reason to die for. There is no shame in what your sister did," Pirika told him earnestly before she pulled her hand away. Ren nodded in agreement, smiling a little from her words of condolence.

"I realized that, but I couldn't forgive my parents for how they had lied to me and planned to have me kill those who were innocent. So, after a year of intense training, I returned and murdered them both." He ignored the way Pirika's gasp seemed to echo in his mind, though the discomfort was hard to forget. "Afterwards, I took what I could, and set out to wander. I had no plans for the future, but I knew I couldn't stay in that house or even near it. Several months later, I ran into Yoh and, after many fights, became a vampire-hunter like him. I'm certain it was a good choice now that I look back."

Pirika was silent. _So this is how Ren became who he is…and it's all there, under the quiet, calm exterior…_ She tried to erase the inexplicable feeling that she ought to comfort him, but it persisted. Breathing deeply to calm the emotions within her, she turned to Ren, pasting a fake smile on her face. "A most interesting history you have. But, I must be intruding. I will be inside, watering the plants." Without giving him a chance to answer, she disappeared behind the translucent glass of the doors.

_Fakery…_Ren thought to himself, gazing at the point where Pirika had disappeared from his sight. _That wasn't the Pirika I know. Pirika wouldn't have smiled like that or said she must have been intruding. Pirika would have stayed and tried to have been comforting…I wish I knew what was bothering her…_ Ren sighed, reaching back and undoing the clasp of the silver chain around his neck. The chain felt heavy in his hands, and he ran his fingers over the engravings in silence, contemplating Pirika. _Jun…when we were little, just before you became a vampire…remember how you said I should tell you if I ever found someone I cared for as much as I cared for you? _Ren glanced up and tried to see through the misty glass, but all he saw was his own reflection. He looked back down at the finely crafted silver. _I think I've found her._

* * *

Pirika sank down into a leather upholstered seat, her heart pounding. She was drawn to the person on the other side of the clouded glass behind her, drawn to the amber-eyed one, and hated the thought of hurting him. She knew it wasn't the physical act of inflicting pain that bothered her, for she was certain Ren had experienced more than that, and she knew that a vampire bite didn't necessarily change the person. It was just the fact that he would have no choice. The Ren she knew was a quiet, emotionally strong person who liked being able to choose his destiny. Freedom was one of his greatest possessions as a vampire-hunter… _I'm so hungry…and yet, I can't bring myself to bite him. Wouldn't he hate me? Would he kill me? I don't care…I wouldn't mind dying because I bit him…because I'm hungry…_She could feel the hunger taking over her thinking. She wasn't completely in control…_I'm sorry Ren…_ She glanced back and noticed his chain no longer around his neck. Without giving herself a moment to think, she burst through the glass doors and lunged for his neck. 

In a matter of seconds her back was pressed against the rough stonework that made up the outer walls of the tower, the silver chain pressed against her bare throat.

"Pirika." His voice was carved with betrayal, and she flinched against the harshness of it. _This is not a good turn of events…_ She was still battling with the darker half of her vampire instincts, which urged her to sink her fangs into his throat and drain his blood from his body, while her heart cried out that she couldn't hurt him because she didn't have the will to do it. "Why…" His voice was soft, asking for answers. Answers she almost felt she couldn't give, and her control snapped.

"Because I can't help it! Because I'm hungry! Because the craving for your blood is driving me insane! Because you like having choices! Because I can't hurt you! BECAUSE I CAN'T!"

Ren stood still as Pirika screamed out her agony at the helplessness of her situation, her cries swallowed by the hammer of the rain around them. He could feel her agony like a physical wound, and it cut deeper than he imagined possible. It was like being drowned in fire and ice. He let the chain slide down from her throat as he pulled her into his arms, letting her shrieks die down into muted sobs of pain, murmuring soothing nonsense into her ears. Her nails, now sharp from her lapse into her darker half, tore the fabric of his clothing as she clung to him, but he paid no heed. Finally, a shudder wracked her body as her tears drew to a close and she relaxed into the curve of his arms. It was a little while before he realized she was muttering something under her breath. He strained his ears to hear the words.

"I'm sorry, I…I just couldn't…couldn't help it." Her words were trembling, she knew she was rambling, and she was past caring. "I'm so sorry…I know you like choices, and…and I…and I tried to…" The words were caught in her throat, so painful that they seemed to make her bleed as she forced them out. "I tried to bite you, and take that away…and…" her tears soaked into his silk vest as they rolled silently down her cheeks, "and…" she searched for the right words, "and I was afraid you'd hate me."

"You could have just asked."

Pirika's head snapped up, her eyes a clear, liquid blue, her cheeks tearstained. "What?" The golden amber in his eyes held no malice, no taunting, only honesty. In that moment, her whole world was focused on the one before her, the dark side gone from her being.

Ren peeled back the collar of his shirt, baring to her eyes two perfectly round scars embedded in his skin. "Did you think I didn't try to keep my sister alive by donating my blood?" His lips curved into a slight smile as something akin to affection flooded his eyes. "It didn't make a difference, but I do not mind the thought of it as some might." Her hesitation was evident, as well as the disbelief and surprise in her eyes. "Go ahead."

For an eternity, Pirika stared at the twin marks that dotted his pulse point, before aligning her fangs exactly over them and biting down hungrily. Ren's only reaction was the slightest flinch as her fangs drove into his skin as she drank the nourishing substance that kept her whole.

To him, the pain was secondary as memories of trying to save his dying sister filled his mind. But this time, it was different. There was no helplessness, no feeling that he was working for nothing as his sister's soul slipped away from him. When Jun had taken his blood, he knew it was because he had insisted, even though she knew it was no use. Pirika's partaking in his blood was deeper and more intimate, emotionally as well as physically. The shorter girl was pressed against his body in her efforts to comfortably feed upon his blood, and he tightened his hold upon her, savoring the sensations. He knew mating was an extremely intimate bonding process for vampires, and as Pirika's body pressed against his own, he thought he could understand why it was so serious. The emotions running through him were powerful and intoxicating.

Pirika pulled away, sated and warm, her fangs retracting as she lapped up the blood that remained around his fresh wounds and her lips. Sleepiness and contentment flooded her body even as she realized that she was pressed against Ren, her hands gripping his upper arms as the shredded tatters of his sleeves lay around her feet. Manners demanded that she thank him, but her tongue was having a hard time processing what her brain demanded, the lingering taste of rich, sweet blood in her mouth.

"Enough?" Ren asked, the teasing edge returning to his voice.

"Yes, thank you," she slurred, her lips forming the words sluggishly.

The smile that tugged at his lips was neither taunting, nor arrogant, but assured with an edge of possessiveness. With the girl for whom he felt such powerful emotions in his arms, instinct drove him to lean down a little, seeking her lips with his own.

At the last moment, Pirika turned her head, his lips brushing instead against her cheek. "The man who steals a vampire maiden's first kiss is the one who must become her mate," she told him, her eyes and lips smiling at the pout that threatened to override Ren's lower lip.

A mischievous grin appeared as Ren leaned down again, his lips barely brushing her ear. "Would that be so bad?"

The crimson-cheeked Pirika had no answer for such a question.

* * *

Yup, Pirika has nothing to say... Probably because she's speechless from shock... But you'll find out what happens when chapter seven comes out. I'm working on the sixth one at the moment...the one that stars YohxAnna! Soo...REVIEW PLEASE! 

Tenri Kage


	6. A Portrait of Beauty

To my reviewers (not sure if i'm allowed to do this cuz of an email I got recently, but I'll try anyway...they better not take my stories off the internet though...) thank you for all your lovely reviews! As a matter of fact, I was actually kind of surprised at all the attention this fic was getting. What with my computer Kyprioth having to be hauled to our new house and the internet being all crazy and stuff, I hardly managed to finish this chapter. The last chapter is already in progress, and tonight, the first night of internet on my beloved computer, (after that horrid crazy of summer school and stuff) I, the writer, have placed this chapter online. It couldn't wait any longer! You guys are all so great, your reviews literally bring tears to my eyes. I hope my writing is most enjoyable! But now, as I must always say, ON WITH THE STORY!

Oh yes, a small, though significant addition...(Really sorry to everyone for not thinking of this sooner.) The 100th reviewer is allowed to pick one of the stories on my profile, and have my actually get my butt moving to write it, and it'll be dedicated to them. But please, don't just press the review button a hundred or so times just to be the 100th reviewer. And I'm working on a really long multiparing Shaman King story...something I really, really must admit is a brainchild of mine, but for the sake of the 100th reviewer, I'll either get it out faster so the two stories don't conflict, or put the "brainchild" on hold for you. So good luck to whoever that 100th reviewer is. Please leave your email everyone, or have a signed review so I know who to email. Arigato minna-san! NOW! Finally, ON WITH THE STORY!

A Castle's Hospitality

A Portrait of Beauty

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_Beautiful… _Until that moment, Lady Anna had been shrouded in more shadow than any of the others, but now, the light illuminated her face and caused his heart to stop. Her golden hair spilled down to her shoulders, demurely brushing their ivory paleness. But there was nothing demure about the rest of her. Her eyes, a mixture of mahogany and soft rose that glimmered almost amethyst in particular lights, were filled with a commanding, seductive fire that promised unimaginable delights. Her shoulders, temptingly displayed by the off-the-shoulder dress, seemed to be smoothed from the purest snow-white marble, and he tried vainly to keep his eyes from tracing her shoulders, the lovely column of her throat, the tantalizing ridges of her collarbones, and the point where her pale skin reached the edge of her ebony-dark dress with a hint of perfect cleavage. _Don't think of that…_ Tearing his eyes away from her chest, he let them slide over her slim waist, and admired the way the dress parted in the front to display her legs in the most bewitching fashion.

It was only when he noticed that the dining hall was conspicuously empty that he realized he had been staring at her legs. "As flattered as I am Yoh-san, I thought you wanted to look at the portraits in the galleries, not my legs," Anna spoke, her voice drifting seductively to his ears. He vaguely wondered if she was using magic to do that, but pushed it out of his mind when she beckoned him and led him through the door he had come from. Her sandals made little noise as they walked across the carpeting and up a long set of stairs. Turning right from there, they entered the first gallery. Beautiful faces, beautiful in a cold way, looked down upon them from the walls. Bronze plaques engraved with the names of the subjects were fastened to the walls by their portraits.

For a quiet while the two wandered the hallway, Anna softly voicing the history of the portraits as Yoh observed how fine and well preserved they appeared. Still, not a single one caught his eye. There was one of two women, both of similar features but one wearing a priestess' robes, the other a plain blouse and green skirt. The robed one wore a smile that seemed icy and reserved, while the other had a warm, natural twist gracing her lips. To the right of that was a silver haired man with gleaming amber eyes in red robes.

Before he had a chance to see the names of the people featured in the masterful portraits, his companion laid cool fingers against his wrist and led him into the next room. "These portraits are different," he muttered as soon as they entered the next gallery.

Anna froze beside him and tilted her head in a questioning manner, strengthening her aura shield and hoping he didn't truly realize why.

"They look so familiar…and they seem so much more alive. You had a different artist paint these pictures didn't you," he commented as he looked up at the softly smiling face of a young girl of about 13. Her blonde hair was blown back, and cherry blossoms dotted her hair like snowflakes. She was beautifully innocent and the happiness in her eyes seemed so real that he felt the need to reach out and pat her on the head. He was surprised that there was no plaque to indicate who the subject was.

Anna let her tension leave her, glad that he had not noticed the likeness between the current residents of the castle, and the people depicted in this particular gallery. "You are correct, Yoh-san, these were painted by a different artist. A friend of the previous owners I believe," she said, confirming his words. She glanced down the hall to the large door at the very end. It was the one that led to the gallery that she and her coven treasured the most. It was filled with portraits of their parents and of themselves as mature vampires. No vampire ever looked older than 20, and no vampire ever reached the point of looking like 20 until they had met their mate and performed the ritualistic Mating Ceremony. As mature and unmated vampires, she and her coven appeared to be only 17 in human age. Looking up she felt her lips twist into a smile at the familiar portrait. It was herself in the gardens of the castle before her parents were murdered.

"Who are these people?" Yoh asked, curiosity tugging his voice. "They seem so familiar and yet, I know that I have never seen them before."

"I believe they are the family of those who lived here before my cousins and I occupied this place," she replied a trifle shortly. It was a gallery filled with portraits done when she and her cousins had been younger. She turned from a painting of Jeanne brushing out her long hair to the one of Pirika and Tamao sitting up in their favorite apple tree that Yoh was looking at. A guilty sort of jealousy stabbed at her, and she glared at Yoh's back. It wasn't like her to feel this way, no matter how attracted she was to another person. _But it feels like it's more than just attraction…_ There was something about the way he acted, the way he smiled, the way he spoke to her, that pulled her in.

Turning away from him, she let her mind wander, reminiscing about the past life that she had led. Her mother had been an energy vampire like herself, taking another's energy away once a year on Halloween to keep her well during the rest of the year. Her father had been a blood vampire. Years ago…when the place had been much younger, the villages had been closer by. The villagers had surrounded the ancient castle and ransacked the place, murdering her parents before her. Anna tore her thoughts away from those memories, though old hurt rippled through her like waves off a beach. Looking up she realized she was staring at a portrait of her and Jeanne as vampires who looked to be about ten, reading in the room of the central tower with a much younger Pirika outside admiring the sunset and Tamao setting up tea on the table.

Glancing around, she noticed that a rather prominent feature of the room was missing.

Yoh was not in the hall with her, and the once closed door to the private gallery was now ajar.

Muttering that there would be hell to pay, Anna shot off down the length of the large gallery, using her inhuman speed to cover the five minute walking distance in a five second sprint. As she skidded to a halt and slipped through the door, she realized she was too late. Yoh was already there and halfway down the hall, admiring the skillful masterpieces placed in the private location. Anna suppressed the urge to curse him as he stared up at a portrait of her parents standing on the balcony and waving down to someone…someone that she knew to be herself, standing next to the artist as the portrait had been painted.

"Yoh-san, I really must protest, I did not realize this door was unlocked. My cousins and I are…very particular about this gallery." She could feel her blood heating up when Yoh paid her no mind and continued to amble down the hall, admiring each and every portrait. "Yoh-san, please," she insisted.

Yoh turned to her, and she stopped, words dying on her lips. There was something in his eyes that froze her body, making her feel as though a spell had been cast upon her. The dark chocolate of those depths emanated warmth, kindness, acceptance? There was no pity; pity would have made her hurt him…but there was none. In seconds he was beside her, a warm hand slight pressure against her arm. "Yoh, not Yoh-san," he told her quietly as he looked to the portrait beside them.

Anna looked up and found her own mahogany-rose eyes boring into her own, and her eyes drifted slowly over the pale curve of her cheek, to the stiff smile on her lips. She remembered the day so clearly… So soon after the death of her parents, before the artist had left, he painted the girls once more. All around her were portraits of herself, Tamao, Pirika, and Jeanne, in different poses, and at one end of the hall, a portrait of the four of them. Yoh's hand on her arm seemed to burn there, making her overly aware. "Yoh, please, let go of me." Her command came out softer than she had intended, but Yoh loosened his hold on her and she pulled away, ignoring the feeling that missed Yoh's touch.

"Anna-san, you…"

Anna shook her head and smiled, letting the fakery take its place. "Please do not harm the portraits or stay too long Yoh," was all she said as she walked towards the door.

Yoh nodded and turned back to what puzzled him the most. Half the portrait frames in the hall were empty. At a click behind him he turned, but Anna had already left. He turned back, still wondering. All the subjects in the portraits of this hall were familiar to him: he had dined with them over dinner. A quiet rustling reached his ears, and he turned just as a blur of pale cream and black silk crashed into him and pinned him effectively to the floor. A slim, though strong, clawed hand held his hands above his head, the other meticulously removing the silver chain around his neck and laying sharp nails against his blood pulse point. The brunette smiled calmly. "Hello Anna-san."

The blonde straddling his waist said nothing as she leaned over him, her face inches from his own. "I am hungry Yoh," she told him coldly, her voice biting like ice. "I do not wish to kill you just for food, but if that is what must happen, that is what must happen. You entered the portrait hall that was forbidden, and I cannot let you go now." Her eyes were dark, unreadable. "But first, why do you not kill?"

Yoh smiled. "It's always the same question," he murmured with a grin as she settled against his body more comfortably, and he started his tale.

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"To be honest, part of the money we live on is from Ren's inheritance, the weapons we carry are made by Horohoro, and Lyserg tracks vampires for us. But a great deal of the money we spend is from the inheritance my parents left me," Yoh explained. "My family was greatly renowned as a family of vampire hunters…but we promised to kill with mercy and only when necessary. I lived as an only child, trained relentlessly by my grandparents, never wondering what had happened to my parents." Yoh's lips curved as he smiled, locking gazes with Anna as he continued. "When finally I was of the age where I could set out and begin vampire hunting on my own, my grandparents told me the secret of my parents." 

Anna gritted her teeth silently against the sudden bitterness of Yoh's voice, unconsciously strengthening her warding spell as though his words would burn her like acid.

If Yoh noticed anything, he didn't mention it as he plunged onward. "By some cruel twist of fate, my mother had given birth to a vampire…my brother was the result of a vampire bite of my mother's that the healers managed to cure for her but not for him…who killed both my mother and my father. They kept only one picture of him…when we were young, before he killed our parents, and he looked so much like me even though we were a few years apart." He shook his head, ignoring the pricks of pain as his throat brushed against Anna's razor sharp claws. "I vowed to find him anyway, and if not seek revenge, at least learn why he did what he did. So of course, I traveled. For so long I followed fake leads until I was at the point of giving up…and then I found him. My brother, alone in a cave at the pinnacle of a mountain, stayed, so unlike anything I had imagined him to be. Even with my unpracticed skills then, I could tell he had not fed in months, and I admit I felt glad, because it would be easier to kill him, but just as I stepped inside, he turned listlessly…" Yoh's eyes darkened and Anna flinched as she felt his anger, his self-hatred, and something else…

Her fingers drifted to the base of his neck almost unconsciously, and she read his thoughts, holding back her fervent hunger, though tears pooled in her eyes from the amount of control she had to exert to keep her needs away from the one whose pain she felt a need to release.

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"Hello Yoh…" The shadowy figure in darkness turned, and Anna, immaterial as a thought, watched quietly. Yoh stood by the cave entrance, nearly a silhouette, even against the cold moonlight that flooded the front of the cave. 

"Hello…brother…" Neither made a motion towards the other for a long while.

"Well Yoh, you've found me at last. Will you kill me now?" The voice was soft, of a timbre only a little deeper than Yoh's, but it carried so much calm resolution that Yoh looked away. Anna frowned slightly. The voice was so familiar…even to her.

"No…not yet. There are things…I want to know first. Why did you…" he swallowed compulsively. It had been three years since he had been told and the reality of it still cut like the cold of winter. "Why did you kill them?"

A strange laugh, one that was almost a sigh, fluted around the earthen chamber. Strands of long brunette hair fell from the pale shoulder into the moonlight, and the person seated there in the darkness seemed to shudder. "I…am an Empath. I can feel emotions. It was all so clear around me, like glass shards falling from the sky Yoh. You wouldn't understand, you aren't an Empath…you're only human, like mother and father. Human." The voice broke at the word and he shifted more into the moonlight, so that the bitter smirk that played about his lips was visible to Yoh, and to Anna. "I, Yoh, am not a human, and I need to feed. Just because I am an energy vampire, sometimes people think it is easier for me…but living around so many humans, I got to the point where I could just walk past someone and feed upon their energy for a few moments. No one noticed for ever so long…"

Yoh took a heavy step towards the seated vampire, an unreadable look on his face. Anna did not recognize this emotion…deeper than pity, but not quite love. "But there were so many of us…you would never have had a problem…you would never be hungry and we were all powerful…"

Behind Yoh, Anna shivered. Empathy was not a common vampire talent, and empathy in an energy vampire often brought about madness…she wondered if this was such a case.

"You don't understand, any time someone was feeling tired and there seemed to be no reason, a slight cold, a low fever, or just a bad mood, I was blamed. For everything that I did and did not do, I was blamed. And it wasn't just in words, but I could feel their thoughts! Do you know what it's like Yoh, to have people think of you in that way, so that you can feel their thoughts pressing around you?" the voice asked fiercely, anger palpable in the air. Silence, chilly as the winter wind that blew by the cave mouth, fell around them. No one said a word. "Yoh, it doesn't matter though. I was so angry, so angry at such a young age, for vampires mature faster than humans, that I fed upon the energy of mother and father until there was nothing left…and I fled. I traveled about, doing the same to every human I met…killing vampires too…but no longer."

"What…made you change your mind?"

"Her," whispered so softly that even Anna's sharp, vampire ears barely heard it. "Her," said happily, the sweet caress of a lover. "Her," the voice said a third time, so lost and forlorn that the hopelessness radiated to Anna in suffocating waves. Though she was impervious to the cold, the emotions made her shiver; she knew only one person who could be like this.

Sunlight, new and cutting as honed steel, sliced through the cave mouth, and just before she was blinded and the dying vampire disappeared into dust motes, she realized who it was.

* * *

"Hao!" 

Underneath her, Yoh stiffened; shocked that she knew his brother. He felt her fingers brush the aura-tapping point as they withdrew, but he ignored them for the salt water that splashed onto his cheeks from above.

Anna was crying.

"Anna…how do you know Hao?"

Anna just shook her head, pulling away from him. Yoh sat up, puzzled as he massaged his wrists. "Anna…"

The blonde vampire flinched and began pulling up her dress until she exposed a band of gold encircling her left thigh. Yoh was admittedly hard pressed to keep his mind on the gold band instead of on the pale cream of her thighs, but when she unclasped the strip of metal from her skin, his mind instantly snapped onto what was underneath. It was something he had seen only in textbooks and drawings, never in real life.

"A contract mark!"

Anna nodded. "Hao and I made a contract. I stopped him from killing, but in return, he cast a spell on me. I cannot leave this castle until he, or one of his kin, takes me as a mate. He knew his family was all vampire hunters…and to save my cousins from death…I promised him." She caressed black markings almost lovingly. "Go Yoh, I don't feel like feeding off of you…"

"No."

She looked up, surprised. That was not the answer she would have expected. "…what?"

"No Anna, I won't go. Energy draining is something I've been through before and it won't hurt me. Please Anna, it's the least I can do…for what Hao did to you," Yoh told her softly, one hand reaching out to touch the vampire maiden. He took one of her hands in his, and pulled her to him as he placed her fingers lightly against the aura-tapping point.

With a helpless shudder, Anna felt herself begin to pull his aura into her own, but a streak of white-hot pain made her cry out and pull away, fingernails drawing blood as she dug them deep into her palm. As soon as she lost contact with Yoh the pain stopped, and she gingerly opened her fist, watching dumbly as the crescent moon shapes embedded into her hand healed before her eyes.

Strong arms swept her into Yoh's lap, and she clung to him, nails tearing the fabric of his button-up shirt. "I was told once…long ago by one of my teachers, that a contract maker's emotions can hurt the person who has the contract mark on them… Hao is hurting you, even dead…but my teacher also taught me how to break a contract and be killed," Yoh whispered before his grip tightened slightly around Anna's body, and his lips met hers.

Anna's body froze, and all she could hear was her heartbeat, thudding loudly in her ears. The softness of Yoh's lips was all she could think of, until he parted them and his tongue darted through their joined lips to her own. In moments she was moaning, Yoh's aura filling her. Her arms snaked around his neck to pull him closer, and her tongue danced against his in abandon. In all her life Anna had never felt anything as sensual or tender as the kiss she was sharing with Yoh. His hands rested lightly on her waist as she straddled his lap, but when she teasingly flicked the tip of her tongue against Yoh's, they pulled her closer still, until they unbalanced and she was on top of the vampire hunter, their kiss yet unbroken.

Yoh could feel himself weakening, the beginnings of a headache taking root, but the greater part of himself was lost in the feel of Anna's body as she pressed herself to him in pleasure as she drank of his aura. He could feel his control weakening, and yet, he refused to let himself be totally lost in her touch, because he knew that once he let himself go, there was no telling what he would do. As it was, he could feel the strain of keeping his hands from straying to less neutral locations on her body. His fingers caressed Anna's back, straying from time to time onto the exposed flesh the low cut of her dress provided, and each time, Anna's gratifying moans drove him a little more out of control. He could feel himself slipping…and for once he didn't care. Darkness, and even pain, seemed to wrap around him, like silk ribbons, but he was lost in the feel of Anna…Anna's lips against his own, Anna's hands at the energy-tapping point at the base of his neck, Anna's body against his own, Anna's moans in his mouth.

"Anna…"

Her name left his lips as they parted, both breathless from the passion. Anna felt sated, more gratified, than she ever had in years, but still she felt sluggish, almost weak, as she leaned against Yoh as he sat up and held her to him. Vaguely in her mind, her thoughts spiraled, wondering if this was what mating was like, or why it hadn't felt this way every time she fed off of another person. "Yoh…"

The 18-year-old grasped her wrist as he got up, pulling her up with him, and swept her into his arms before depositing her into a nearby bench of delicately wrought metal and eider down stuffed cushions. As Anna sat, feeling speechless, he knelt before her, his fingers softly caressing the black contract mark that marred Anna's pristine skin. "When did you meet Hao?" he asked curiously, getting his breathing rate and pounding heart back under control.

"When Hao was nearly 10…he already looked as the rest of unmated vampires looked: the age of 17. He had spent five years killing and feeding…and then he got here…" Anna smiled slightly, though the expression held no true delight. "I've been under this contract for a decade now."

In an instant she was in Yoh's arms as he pulled her close. Her eyes widened in shock and her body felt not her own as the brother of the one who had kept her captive in her own castle for the last decade held her, murmuring soft apologies. For long moments she held completely still, then let her arms slowly hold Yoh, not knowing who was the comforter or the comforted. She could feel one of his hands, stroking her cheek affectionately, drifting down to barely graze her neck and collarbones, before pulling away. Warm fingertips traced the pattern of the mark on her thigh, and Anna shuddered, from the heat that came, not from Yoh's touches, but from within her. Yoh slowly pulled away, and her whole being seemed to ache with longing for the one who knelt before her on one knee, deep mahogany eyes filled with something unreadable.

"Anna…let me be your mate."

The world shattered around her, ears filled with throbbing heartbeats as her mind attempted to encompass what Yoh had just said. Her pulse drummed in her mind as the very blood in her veins, which made them so different, heated up as though it boiled. She no longer felt the caresses Yoh made as his fingers stroked the mark on her thigh. For a long moment Anna knew she couldn't speak. Her throat felt constricted, and she was certain she must be choking…though on what she couldn't have said. "You don't mean that." She told him quietly, her voice even, monotonous, dead.

"Yes Anna, I do mean it." Yoh's eyes were filled with an emotion that Anna, even in her decades of life, was too afraid to contemplate.

Anna felt like a doll, china and porcelain, cold from the shock, so when Yoh pulled her down into his lap, she went unresistingly. Hot lips seared her lips, her cheeks, even the shell of her ears, and her eyelids, melting away the chill that seemed to surround her. It was as though Yoh had given nearly free rein to something he had been holding back in their last kiss. White fire blazed upon her thigh for a moment, a pain so sharp it nearly shredded her; more intense than anything she had felt. When her eyes were free of the sudden tears, they focused on Yoh's face, carefree, kind, and happy.

"Anna, your mark is gone."

She looked down, but there was no black, nothing that remained of the contract that Hao had bound her to. "But…we never…there was no Mating Ceremony…" Disbelieving, she let her fingers caress the spot it used to be…but there was nothing left. For the first time in a long time…since she closed the contract with Hao, since her parents had passed away, Anna smiled, lips curved in pure joy. And as those same lips were once more captured by the brunette who had freed her, she felt no doubt that Yoh was not offering to become her mate out of guilt at his brother's crime, or any other reason. Yoh loved her, and she loved him back. It was a warming revelation that made her smile against Yoh's lips as her hands tangled themselves in the soft locks of his chocolate hair, but she knew that she spoke with complete truth and honesty when Yoh's lips released her own and migrated to her throat…before pure pleasurable ecstasy made her completely incoherent, her vocabulary degenerated into moans.

"My mate…"

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I thank everyone for their reviews...and you all know what's coming right? REVIEW PLEASE! I beg you all so shamelessly...I ought to give myself a smack or something. But I love you all and I love your reviews! 

Tenri Kage

P.S. If you've liked my stories and want to learn a bit more about me and my friends' stories, visit the xanga site! Just type in MagomagoShi. Please be respectful of what you say though? We like criticism, but we don't have any critics yet, so whatever you say counts!

P.P.S. If you didn't read what was at the top, **100TH REVIEWER GETS TO PICK ONE STORY ON MY PROFILE FOR ME TO WRITE AND DEDICATE TO THEM!** Ok? Ok. Thanks for all your reviews everyone!


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